#i need to start answering these asks with moon... the sun to moon ratio is unbalanced.

[biblically-accurate-dca]

HEYO!! This is such a fun lil section of the inter-webs :DD !! As a fellow biblically accurate enjoyer, I made a lil gift for you! :3c Enjoy!! :DD

Have a great day/evening! :DD

THANK YOU SO MUCH??? YOUR ART IS SO COOL (´；ω；｀) !! AND YOU DRAW THEM SO WELL???

i hope you have a great day too 😭

#submission #my art #i realized while i was drawing this that this pose might be.. confusing to look at. oopsies! #anywayyy THANK YOUUUU!! everyone in this fandom is so nice it's kind of blowing my mind a little bit #i've barely even been here for a month and yet i've got all these people here??? it's so weird to think about #so thank you to everyone for such a warm reception... i've probably said 'thank you' a lot at this point but i've meant it every time #i hope everyone reading this has a good day/night #daycare attendant #sundrop #sunnydrop #i need to start answering these asks with moon... the sun to moon ratio is unbalanced. #sun is just so much more personable though

[tysonrunningfox]

Ripped Part 26

Ao3

Hiccup has had one other psychological evaluation.  It was when he got out of the hospital, and it went about the same as this one. 

In other words, not well. 

It turns out that being a white male with a rough relationship with an impossible to please, now absent father figure who also happens to have a long history of childhood bullying raises some red flags.  At least last time he was fifteen and still theoretically moldable, instead of a twenty-five-year-old serial murder suspect who just happened to spend the last few years giving nightly tours about the very murders he allegedly copied. 

So maybe it went worse this time. 

The one bright point was probably the crack in the psychologist’s clinical veneer when Hiccup assured her that no, in fact, he did not have any history of killing animals and he actually loved his childhood cat very much until it died at the ripe old age of eighteen.  Of natural causes. 

When assuring a mental health professional that he does not now and never has enjoyed torturing animals is a high point, it’s safe to say that this has been a long week.  A long month, really.  A long year. 

Hell, a long life. 

Jail has a way of stretching minutes into hours and squeezing hours into dull, ceaseless blinks of an eye.  He understands now why people used to mark the dungeon walls when they got fed or caught a glimpse of the sun, because the days blurring together is enough to make Hiccup feel as crazy as the psychiatrist assumed he was. 

Not that his version of crazy would ever mean killing cats.  His version of crazy appears to mean long, elaborate daydreams of a private shower with a locking door, and also practically unfettered glee when he sees his lawyer because that means he gets to go to a room with a comfortable chair for a while and talk to someone not assuming his guilt. 

A straight-faced guard in an NWF uniform walks Hiccup down to the long bank of stalls along a plexiglass barrier.  The guard gestures to the last stall and Hiccup sits down in the office chair that might as well be a throne of perfectly fluffed pillows after sitting on his thin mattress all day.  His back relaxes enough to hurt, and he exhales a long, slow breath and focuses on Eretson filling out a form before taking the seat on the other side of the plexiglass and picking up the dingy white plastic phone. 

“How are you?” Eretson asks out of politeness, not expecting a real answer. 

Hiccup almost gives him one anyway, but he doesn’t think it would make him feel any better to say that he’s in jail, it’s miserable, he’s been terrified for so long that he’s mostly just exhausted, and he doesn’t think the psychiatrist liked him very much because she didn’t laugh at any of his jokes. 

He settles instead for, “I’m here.” 

“How is everything going?” Eretson asks, writing on a legal pad in neat, oversized block letters.  Grisly?

They can’t be sure if anything is being recorded on the ancient phone system, but silence is suspicious too. 

“Oh, you know, I’m just being in jail.  It’s pretty lonely not talking to anyone but your lawyer,” Hiccup laughs, not explicitly trying to sound tired but not holding it back either. 

“Any family that you want to visit?  I know your mom has been in contact.” 

Hiccup swallows hard, “it’s a long flight, she doesn’t need to spend the money just to see me make a fashion statement in orange.”  It doesn’t stop him from thinking about her though, how confused she’d be.  How angry she’d be if she knew the truth. 

His mom is the only woman who ever made his dad back down from an argument and for a second, he lets himself imagine that she could save him.  Yell at Grisly, start a picket line, demand reform. 

But Grisly isn’t someone to yell at.  He’d have no issue adding to his body count. 

It makes Hiccup want to scream, and rave, and get a poster-board at a busy intersection to help him spread the truth, and if it were his own life he was risking, he’d do it.  But it’s not. 

“How is everyone?”  He asks, and if Eretson knows who he’s really asking about, he doesn’t show it.  His poker face is exhausting, adding to the dreary blur of days in jail.  If Hiccup had been making marks on the dungeon wall for every time he won a reaction out of someone, he’d have a single mark made immediately after being placed in his cell, awarded for getting under Grisly’s skin during processing. 

“Everything is fine,” Eretson could be lying and Hiccup probably wouldn’t know it, but the thought of something happening to Snotlout or Astrid and not even knowing is too much to even speculate on.  It’s the kind of thought that keeps him up at night, counting dimples in the popcorn ceiling to fill the dead space in his mind.  “I do want to talk about your options moving towards a trial.” 

“Oh God, did the profiler tell you that I’m crazy?”  Hiccup laughs under his breath, “because I think she confused my attempts at humor for debilitating psychological issues.”  He continues babbling when Eretson doesn’t laugh, “not that I know anything about that.  I’m just speaking from what I’ve seen on TV.” 

“The profile is just one piece of the case,” Eretson assures, “and you don’t quite fit the profile of a serial murderer.” 

“What does ‘not quite’ mean?  Is it just the white male, daddy issues thing or did some of my answers partially fit the serial murderer profile?” 

“For future reference, saying that Viggo Grimborn is a ‘hobby’ is a bit suspicious.” 

“I’ll file that away for the next time I get criminally profiled,” Hiccup nods, “with my luck I’ll probably need it.  Should I have said that I actually picked up yoga like my doctor told me to?” 

“I finally got access to Grisly’s evidence file,” Eretson changes the subject and Hiccup bites the inside of his cheek to keep from asking if he’s ever laughed, even once, “and it’s going to take a while to look through it all and compare it to my own, but so far it’s more airtight than I would have expected.” 

Hiccup has never been very good at not saying what he feels, or even delaying saying what he feels, but glancing at the NWF guard out of the corner of his eye helps him shove his rant back down. 

“Oh.” 

“Of course, forensics is still working, but that could take months—”

“Months?”  Hiccup knows the theory of the word, in that the year is broken into twelve more or less even pieces consisting of approximately thirty days each.  There’s something about the moon in there too.  But in practice?  The concept of spending months in this limbo is foreign and impossible, defying some belief held so strongly that it feels like a physical law.  “How long have I been in here?” 

“Five days.” 

“And you’re saying months until a trial.” 

“Under current timelines, yes.”  Eretson goes to make another note but then decides against it, speaking carefully instead.  “And given the unique circumstances of your situation, I don’t believe that waiting months is the best path forward.” 

Hiccup hears the truth between the words:  Leaving Grisly to his own devices for months gives him more time to bulletproof his lies and clean up his evidence.   His throat tightens when he thinks of Astrid and how much danger she’s in. 

“Have you told anyone what I told you about…the case?”  He tries, “you know, about their um, continued involvement in the case as it progresses?”  His eyes scream about Grisly’s threats and Eretson must get the message because he shakes his head. 

“No, I haven’t, I think it’s best to minimize Miss Hofferson’s involvement at this point, given all how many times her name comes up in the file.” 

Hiccup doesn’t know Miss Hofferson.  Miss Hofferson threatened a harassment claim at one point, sure, but she ceased to exist when Astrid came into the picture.  Astrid with her glares and her bony fists and misty eyes when she looks at old books.  Astrid impatient for the truth, impatient for the point of a roundabout story, always moving and trying and inviting him to try too. 

“Don’t you think…I mean, wouldn’t it be better for her to know the situation?”  His throat is dry, and swallowing doesn’t seem to help. 

“I thought of something that could potentially move the process along faster,” Eretson ignores Hiccup’s question, not unkindly just devoted to keeping the meeting on track, and Hiccup presses the phone closer to his face, forcing himself to focus. “We haven’t considered a plea deal.” 

“A plea deal?  Like taking a driving course to knock a few points off of a driving ticket?” 

“In this case, a confession and promise to divulge information about anyone else involved in the case in exchange for a reduced sentence.”  Eretson writes on the pad, Grisly coerced you into the last murder, then turned on you. 

Hiccup’s heart pounds in his ears.  One murder, not four.  It would be a better ratio if they were talking about any other crime.  One car stolen, not four.  One house broken into, not four.  But as someone who has committed zero murders, confessing to one feels monumental and terrifying and stupid. 

While he can’t honestly say he’s spent much time trying to be successful, he has made a conscious effort to not absolutely ruin his life, and confessing to a murder he didn’t commit in order to tell a bunch of lies connecting him to the man who did sounds like a very quick way to undo all of that. 

“Reduced sentence, not no sentence.” 

“It gives us leverage too,” Eretson insists, “we can argue the conditions of you coming forward with information and include minimum sentence before appeal for probation or insist on a certain facility that’s better than here.” 

“So trading months waiting for trial for some as of yet unspecified amount of time in a different cell?”  Hiccup snorts, “is there a catalog?  Do I get to choose my bedsheets and pick out a plant for the window?” 

“The prosecution would no longer have months to prepare for a trial.  As it is, they have plenty of time to build their case.”  The ‘and do other things like horribly murder your remaining loved ones’ is an unspoken addition. 

“Do you think it would work?”  Hiccup lets himself think about it, glazing over the moment he’d have to sit in front of his father’s oldest frenemy and say that he took someone’s life. 

How deep can Grisly’s cover really go?  He thinks of the man’s empty office, his horde of creepy guards seamlessly integrating with multiple levels of law enforcement.  How long would someone have to dig to find something wrong?  Would a name brought up in a plea deal be enough? 

“I have witnesses,” Eretson says, scrawling Jorgenson in purposeful letters on the pad. 

“The benefit then, is that we have a chance to direct the investigation.” 

“Towards the truth, of course.” 

“Right, the truth.”  As much as Hiccup has played fast and loose with the rules, he’s always had a steady commitment to the truth, but telling it didn’t save him.  Hell, telling the truth now would get people killed, and the silence is starting to be so deafening he’s wondering if the affects will be permanent. 

“Think about it,” Eretson starts to stand up and Hiccup fumbles for something else to talk about, anything to get some more time out of character as ‘obedient inmate’, but he’s too slow and Eretson hangs up the phone. 

He almost knocks on the plexiglass to get his attention before remembering that’s strictly against the rules, and his hand freezes mid-air when he looks over Eretson’s shoulder and sees who’s turning away from the front desk after filling out a form. 

It’s Astrid. 

She’s wearing a glare that could melt the barrier between them if she aimed it his direction instead of at Eretson and a jacket she must have borrowed from Hiccup’s coat closet.  Her arms fly out from her sides as she argues then she shoves her hands in her pockets and narrows her eyes, an expression he instantly recognizes as seething doubt.  She was clearly asking for something she thought she wasn’t going to get, and now that she’s won it, she’s unsure if it’s real. 

Then, she looks at him and her eyes widen as her shoulders slump, relief that he can hardly fathom having anything to do with him flooding across her features. 

He smiles the first real smile he’s had since she was tangled in his hoarded sheets and everything seemed like it would be ok and waves and she waves back, one half limp hand raised to shoulder height. 

Eretson crosses his arms, shoulders rigid then relaxing as he points at the chair he just vacated, saying something else that makes Astrid shoot him a sharp look before hurrying to the other side of the glass.  She practically falls into the chair, picking up the phone with shaking fingers and holding it to her ear. 

He loves her.

“Hi,” Hiccup starts, anticlimactic, and Astrid’s mouth splits into a wide, tired smile. 

He loves her and she isn’t safe here.  Not with the NWF guard at the door, not with Grisly just a buzz away. 

“Hi,” she bites her lower lip and leans forward on her elbows on the ledge in front of the window, and if it weren’t for the plexiglass, he could kiss her.  “Eretson isn’t happy that I’m here, he told me not to follow him because visiting hours were over, but I checked online and, well—”

“And you’re here.”  And he loves her, and he doesn’t want to tell her in an itchy jumpsuit over a dirty jail phone, but it’s so true and so much that he’s not sure he’ll have a choice.  “You shouldn’t be here.” 

“I’ve been told ten minutes and no discussions of ‘substance’,” she air-quotes around the word and his palms itch with how much he wants to touch her. 

Eretson is standing by the door and Hiccup idly wonders if he has his gun or if he had to turn that in to step into his lawyer shoes.  Either way, his presence feels protective, and Hiccup already told Astrid once that she shouldn’t be here, he can’t be expected to do that again.  Not when she’s right across from him, not when it’s been so long since he’s seen a friendly face. 

“That works for me, I don’t have anything of substance to talk about.”  He shrugs and she smiles, soft and fond in a way he definitely doesn’t deserve.  She’s obviously exhausted, the dark circles under her eyes making his chest ache even as the sight of her in his jacket lets him feel like he’s protecting her in some tiny way while he can’t do anything else.  “How are you?” 

“I’m fine, you?” 

“I’m here.”  It hurts more the second time. 

“Yeah,” she looks back at Eretson for a second before scooting her chair closer to the glass, “that was a stupid question.  You look like hell.” 

“Thanks,” he wipes a hand over his stubble and his cheeks heat up. 

“No, not—the beard is fine,” her smile is faint and secret and too far away, “it’s more just…” She waves her hand at him and he rolls his eyes. 

“You just gestured to all of me.” 

“All of you except your beard,” she clarifies before checking on Eretson again.  She’s not built for levity in this kind of situation and he can see a serious depth sneaking back into her eyes.  “Everything’s a mess.” 

“Hey now, that sounds like ‘substance’,” he redirects, “how’s Snotlout?” 

“When his shoulder is better to the point that I won’t literally kill him, I’m going to hit him sixty-seven separate times,” she sets her chin, resolute, “I have a tally.” 

“Are you sure he’s ok?  That sounds a little low.”

She laughs, a tinge of mischief clouding the worry in her expression, “he’s ok.  He made a point yesterday to tell me his favorite story about you.” 

“Oh God,” Hiccup’s stomach falls as his eyes widen, “what favorite story is that?” 

“You know,” she tucks her hair behind her ear but it doesn’t stay, falling back against her flushing cheek, “some girl called you ‘Viggo’ and—”

“Yep, that one.”  If Grisly came in right now and offered to kill him to make this easier, he might just let him.  “Which version was it?” 

“There are different versions?” 

“No,” he drags his palm down his face, “not—I wish there were, every other Snotlout story is blown out of proportion so much it’s easy to call bullshit, but that one…he tells that story with unflinching accuracy and dedication to the truth.”  He shakes is head, wishing he had a bucket of ice to put out the fire on his face, “sometimes there are sound effects, I’m shocked you’re here.” 

“No sound effects,” she shakes her head, “maybe he’ll do those in court though, he seems to think he can prove your innocence.” 

“I think I’d rather plead guilty than listen to Snotlout tell that story in court.”  He laughs, but it brings Eretson’s plea deal back into his conscious mind.  Just as a concept to get used to, as something neutral that takes up space in his brain until he decides what to do about it. 

“Don’t even joke about that,” she whispers, crossing her legs and tapping an anxious foot in the air.  “I’ve been looking at this from every angle and I haven’t found anything yet.” 

“That’s definitely substance—”

“Eretson isn’t listening,” she mutters, “and if I don’t do something useful, I’m going to scream, I—”

“Hey, it’s ok,” he lies, and he can’t help thinking of Grisly’s promise, “you’re safe, that’s what matters—”

“That’s a copout,” she glares, tired and alive and his chest throbs, “there has to be something that we can do.” 

“I can’t do anything,” he hates how bitter he sounds, honest for the first time in days, and something about Astrid’s solid expression is almost shocked, like she expected better or at least different of him.  “I can barely keep the days straight, I—Hell, I told a psychologist that Viggo Grimborn is a hobby and now they think—well, I guess they already thought given that I’m here—”

“Hiccup,” she sighs, palm on the plexiglass, fingertips that he can’t touch smudged with ink and library dust. 

“Eretson said that a trial could take months,” he leans his head on his hand, “and I know that, rationally.  I know that big, newsworthy trials for serial killers take months to put together, but I guess—I don’t want to do this here.” 

“Do what?” 

“Anything.”  Even he thinks he sounds pathetic now and Astrid’s frown turns disappointed, which is worse than just sad.  “I just feel useless.” 

“I can see that.”  If it were pity in her voice, it would shut him down, but it’s not.  It’s something different, something stronger.  Something annoyed, and he realizes for the first time, she’s dragging him along a path of her choice, and him digging in his heel isn’t going to stop her. 

He looks at her hand and his jumpsuit and his blurry reflection that he can see superimposed over her face on the plexiglass if he stares hard enough.  He loves her.  He thinks about that ill-fated breakfast run and what he’d be doing now if things had gone differently. 

“I guess…I spent the last few years in complete stasis, just giving tours and knowing what every day would look like before it began.  And then, well, you.”  Then he fell in love with her.  No, she changed everything before he did that, but that doesn’t make it sound any less corny.  He wouldn’t have thought she was in the mood for corny, but her eyes soften slightly even as she holds her frown in place.  He forces himself to keep talking so that he doesn’t backtrack over anything he hasn’t decided to say yet, “and I think for the first time in a while, I thought these next few months were going to be different.” 

“How?”  Of course she asks the question most likely to make him look like an idiot. 

“Aside from well, you maybe being around I hope, umm,” he clears his throat and presses the phone closer to his ear to continue, “and well, I guess I have to finally figure out what I’m going to do with my life?  Because it isn’t sensationalizing murders that are still destroying everything I love about this city even a hundred years on, and,” he swallows hard and laughs, a sharp, surprised sound, “and I think I was looking forward to it, almost.  But now that’s not happening because my next few months are all booked up.  Literally.” 

“Well, you have plenty of time to think about it,” she tries and fails to cushion the statement and it makes him smile even as his heart sinks, heavy and exhausted and desperate. 

What are the chances she’s still going to look at him like that after months? 

“That’s true.” 

“I’ll figure out how to book a conjugal trailer and we can work on your resume,” she offers, evidently satisfied with his suggested path forward.  “

“You shouldn’t,” he tries to swallow against the knot in his throat when he thinks about her on jail property, alone with him, and Grisly’s promised intent rings in his ears.  Months.  What are the chances she can evade Grisly for months if she can’t go five days without ending up here?  “It’s not safe.” 

“I obviously need to, just a few days of this and you sound like Eretson.” 

“Eretson’s right, Astrid.”  He sighs and rubs his hand over his face.  He could tell her.  The NWF guard behind him couldn’t make a move with cameras and Eretson standing right there in the lobby.  If he told her, then she’d know to run far away and—and he doesn’t now how deep Grisly’s cover goes.  

“I can take care of myself.”  Plus, looking at her fierce blue eyes, he knows that she wouldn’t run. 

Months.  Months of chances.  Months of not seeing her every day, or at all, if she’s doing what’s best for herself.  Months of limited information and fear that the next snippet that makes it through the bars on his cell will be bad. 

He’s right, it is time to figure out what he’s going to do with his life, and while he has decidedly fewer choices than he thought he would, the answer is still obvious. 

“Eretson’s right about a lot of things,” he sighs, hoping she’ll go easy on him and knowing that’s impossible, “he thinks I should take a plea deal.” 

“I told you not to joke about that—”

“I’m not joking.”  He shakes his head, taking in her furious expression.  It’s slower blooming than normal, jaw flexing and setting forward before the blue fire is truly lit in her eyes.  She’s tired, after five days, and she doesn’t now half of the truth.  He loves her, and the only draw to finally getting his shit together is that he’d be doing it with her.  He doesn’t get to do that now, but he can do something for her. 

He could tell himself that he’s doing it for Snotlout or for whoever would be unlucky enough to cross Grisly’s path next, but since he’s already planning to lie himself into a prison sentence for a murder he didn’t commit, he should probably stick to the truth, at least internally. 

“That decision is going to last more than months, Hiccup—”

“Yeah, and it’s about more than time.”  He almost tells her then, but he’s not sure what good it would do when she’s staring at him with something like hatred.  Too shocked, too sad, too helpless.  She looks like she wants to smack some sense into him and he’d let her if it meant he could touch her before he takes this step he knows he can’t retreat from. 

He wonders, briefly, if the real Viggo Grimborn ever thought about turning himself in.  When the fervor died down and no one mentioned him in the paper anymore.  Maybe he took a Victorian plea deal and got arrested for something else, something smaller, something forgiveable, but barely.  And only to some. 

If only Astrid didn’t forgive him for harassment, then he might have that ‘get out of trouble free’ card to spend now. 

Except he wouldn’t need it then, because he would have done his community service and gone right back to giving tours, staying across the street to respect a fifty-yard boundary.  No matter what, Astrid was destined to disrupt the monotony of his life, he just hoped one of the roads didn’t lead to a courtroom. 

“Hiccup,” she says his name in a tone he doesn’t recognize, half-pleading and half-insulting, both uncomfortable for her.  She opens her mouth again wordlessly, obviously unsure what to say to bring her pep talk back on track. 

“You were right, there is something I can do.” 

“No—”

“Visiting hours are over,” the NWF guard appears behind Hiccup, heavy hand on his shoulder as he looks at Astrid, recognition flickering in his otherwise brainwashed eyes.  “Time’s up.” 

“I’m not done here,” Astrid stands up, phone still pressed to her ear, glare dialed to the maximum even as Eretson steps into the room behind her and says something to get her attention. 

“Let Eretson give you a ride,” Hiccup says, memorizing how her eyes on him feel, even through plexiglass, even furious and confused, “please.” 

His cell is smaller than before.  The bed is less comfortable, the walls colder, the single light in the ceiling flickering at just the right frequency to prevent him from thinking.  His jumpsuit is itchy and his back is either too tense to hurt, or the sensation is entirely drowned out by the dull throbbing in his chest.  Most of the time, when people sacrifice themselves for the greater good, it’s faster than this.  It’s jumping in front of a bullet, not waiting alone for hours to invoke due process like a spell. 

He can’t say he’s surprised when the door to the hallway opens, and he’s definitely not surprised to see Grisly, monochromatic and rigid, danger stuffed carefully out of sight for the time being.  Hiccup’s relief is palpable and gruesome, he hates knowing what the man looks like after a kill, but he’s glad to know that this sober expression isn’t it. 

“I heard Astrid visited today,” Grisly’s smile blooms slowly as he steps out of range of the hallway cameras and Hiccup rolls his eyes. 

“Yeah?  Did a little birdie tell you?” 

“I trust you didn’t tell her anything sensitive,” he gloats, a cat pinning a mouse’s tail down and watching it struggle. 

But Hiccup isn’t struggling, not anymore.  He’s not trying to escape, he’s steering into the skid.  He’s a mouse full of rat poison, ready to dive into the belly of the beast. 

“Oh, so you can’t get the recordings from those visiting phones?  Eretson was wondering about that, thanks for the tip.”  He jokes, voice even, and Grisly straightens his uniform.  Hiccup wonders if he designed the NWF uniforms himself, and the thought strikes him as kind of pathetic.  Less of a wolf in sheep’s clothing and more of an institutional fanboy, a blatant self-insert too self-conscious to be believable. 

At least when Hiccup puts on an act, he gets real antiques.  He commits.

“I just thought I’d remind you of her…precarious situation.”  It’s bluster, painted on thick and smudged before it could dry into armor. 

“Trust me, I couldn’t forget it if I tried.” 

“Good,” Grisly’s smile is cracked around the edges, veneer wearing thin after a long day at an office job he hates, “you seem to be taking something seriously for once.  You know, maybe all of this has been good for you.” 

“The legal system is supposed to rehabilitate people after all,” Hiccup shrugs, on the weird end of a paternal lecture from someone he respects so little that he feels the need to make it clear.  “Maybe I’ll finally be an upstanding citizen when this is all over.” 

“Upstanding,” Grisly’s lip curls, eyes manic and alive for just a second before he wipes has hands on his pants and selects one key off of his keyring, “if it keeps your spirits up…” 

“Oh yeah, I’m downright chipper,” Hiccup nods, “catching up on my sleep. So, if you don’t mind,” he points at the evening sky outside and fakes a yawn. 

Grisly grits his teeth, feral for a second, canine too sharp, “of course.  Can I get you anything else while I’m being so accommodating?”

“I think I’m good for now,” Hiccup waves him towards the door, “I’ll let you know though.” 

Grisly leaves then, shoulders rigid, and Hiccup hates how the silence makes him wish he’d dragged out the conversation longer.  He tells himself that this will be over soon and tries to think about his new tour, a thrilling, courtroom-based tale of murder and eventual, inevitable betrayal.  

#ripped #httyd fic #hiccstrid #modern au #hiccstrid fic #serial killer tour guide au #we'er here now and it's weird

[princeanxious]

A Loving New Beginning- Gods of the Sky Au (Part One!) -Sanders Sides Fic

(Authors note: So, bet you guys totally forgot that I was planning on making another part to this Au, huh?? Well, After some trial and error, and some struggling with ideas and motivation, I’ve got part one, out of three/four, done and ready to give to ya’ll! This is supposed to help balance out the AU’s angst ratios a little bit to give a look into the aftermath of the Main Fic, so I hope ya’ll enjoy! Also wanna be tagged for anything to do with this AU? Let me know, I’m starting a taglist for it!)

Warnings: fluffy fluff and little else other than Virgil being a cute lil confused bean!

Check out the fanfic this fic follows after, right here! (Or else nothing will make much sense, though please heed the warnings!) There will also be art of All the Sides in the future, like this piece here! (Angst and slight blood tw for that piece tho!)

Roman is working on creating something new in his creation room inside the temple when Virgil quietly steps in.

“Hey Ro?” Roman startles slightly and his creation dissipates, thankfully he hadn't really started on it and hadn't really had anything in mind when starting on it, so nothing is lost. Virgil, however, looks guilty anyway and begins apologizing profusely.

“No no, it's okay, really. I promise, Virgil, no harm done!” He chuckles softly, patting the others shoulders as he comes to stand in front of the lunar god.

“So what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?” the solar god asks, which triggers Virgil to flush. The happiness of seeing color in the fair skin of the gods once sickly pale face bubbles inside Roman for a moment, and he can't help but smile which only causes the smaller of the two to blush more.

“U-um.. The humans, you know, with a solstice coming up, they're requesting us. They - they want all of us to attend the upcoming festival celebration..” the ravenette fidgeted with his new cape’s hem, the gold threaded designs woven into the inside to represent the stars that accompany the Moon at night glittered beautifully in the candle light. Truly, Virgil finally looked divinely ethereal, as he rightfully should have looked all this time.

“That's fantastic, my dear Luna!~ You rightfully deserve to be a part of the Solstice Celebrations!” Roman's eyes lit up bright like the star he was born for, excited and proud of the God he cared for deeply. He couldn't quite help his giddiness, reaching to take Virgil's hands into his own and twirl the shorter god in glee, heart only warming more at the precious squeak of surprise that escaped the Moon.

“Just imagine the praise, the fun, the dances! The shimmering decorations, the music, Virgil!” Roman couldn't help but pull the other close, guiding the other in a small twirling dance, ending it off by picking up the other by the waist and giving one final twirling motion before setting him down and gazing warmly into the others eyes.

Virgil still seemed thrown by the kind, caring mood Roman now treated him with, still new to the solid affection and support after working alone for so long. Locking eyes left him flustered and floundering at what to do when shown such solid respect, not to mention being spun cheerily around!

Virgil's arms had instinctively reached out to hold on to Roman’s shoulders while being spun, which was where they now rested as he attempted to gather himself. Unable to help his natural nervous tendencies, he broke eye contact and pulled his arms to his chest to fumble with his sleeves.

“Well, the thing is. Y’know those stories they write based on history? Those exaggerated dramas? Well, um.. since the um.. most recent event in history, they’ve begun to write stories about me.. about, a-about us?” Virgil seemed to flush a bit more, face twisting into something more confused, a look he often gained when frustrated over confusing things.

Roman tilted his head curiously, an endeared smile never leaving his face as he hummed inquiringly. “Hmm? About us? What about us? I know that Humans can sometimes get carried away with their exaggerations, for entertainment’s sake, but I hope it is not too bad?” Watching the nervousness flicker in Virgil’s eyes made his smile falter, concern flashing over his tanned features at the smaller gods distress. “It is not too bad, right?”

“That.. is what I wanted to talk to you about, its not bad, no. But, I just.. Don't understand it? They write.. unfamiliar endings, they assume and guess that the Moon and Sun are one in the same.” Virgil refused to meet the Sun God’s gaze, instead nervously playing with his cape once more.

“Virgil, we are one in the same. Equals within the sky, as it should have been from the start.”

“No, Roman, that.. That's not entirely what I mean.. I mean that.. they see us as lovers, write about us being forced apart by the shadows, and my sacrifice and rebirth, then write about how we then will live on as one, like Patton and Logan do. They want us to attend, together, I.. am confused by this, Roman. ”

“Why, dear Luna? Humans seek love in everything they find. Though, I sometimes think it may be the way they cope with the knowledge that I had left you all alone..” guilt flashed over the sun god’s face, but he maintained his gaze on the beautiful moon before him. “Perhaps I should follow in their footsteps, I will never forgive myself for being so wrong with you, so anything to prove my devotion to your healing wellbeing is something I wouldn’t mind taking part in.”

Virgil was even more confused now than before. Was Roman.. agreeing? With the Humans? Saying that they should be together?

“Roman I don’t..?” Virgil shyly peered up at the taller god, surprise evident in his softer features.

“You will understand with time, my dear Virgil, I promise to you.” The Sun gently hooked his arm around the Moons waist and pulled him close, gently placing a kiss upon the others forehead. “In due time, everything will be clear.”

Virgil gently gripped at the others vibrant cloak, eyes downcast with a look of bewilderment, cheeks flushed.

“Alright, Roman.. I trust you.” Romans heart fluttered at those words, heavy in meaning, the baring of vulnerability in giving them. His hand carded gently through the raven locks of the Moon’s hair, eyes soft and distant for a long moment.

“My dear Luna, if you are ever uncomfortable during the festival, if you ever need an out, air to breathe, a quiet place to calm down in, just give me the word, and you’ll have it. These human festivals can be quite fun, however I do not want want your first time in experience to be unpleasant because you have been overwhelmed.”

Virgil nodded, releasing the others cloak gently to thumb the soft fabric thoughtfully. “They say the Festival will finally be able to last all day and night, because of my Moon, Roman. I am concerned for the Humans, Roman, have they ever carried festivities in the night before? It will be dark, and dangerous, even with my moonlight.”

The Sun chuckled, soothing the ravenette’s hair back from shielding his eyes, shining gold gazing into piercing blue-grey. “Always worrying, my dear Virgil, do not fret, they have planned for this. I have already been asked to help light the flames of the festival candles once night falls. It will be a magical, glittering display, and everyone will be safe in our presence.” Leaning his forehead against Virgil's, eyes locking. “I promise to you that this festival will be far from harm and danger, it will be magical, a wondrous occasion to celebrate us, to celebrate you. With all of us now together, the humans will be safe from the darkness, for good.” The Solar god’s hand slipped from the others hair and rested gently against the Moon’s cheek, thumb rubbing soothing strokes against flushed pink skin with adoration. “With you in our midst, we are complete.”

Both gods spent a few moments in silence, finding assurance in one another’s quiet presence when all was said and done. Eventually, Virgil broke the silence by hiding his face against the taller gods shoulders, huffing out a shy chuckle, “You are so weirdly wondrous, Roman.” Saying which had earned a warm laugh and a gentle kiss upon the head in response, which then also prompted a bashful whine in reaction.

They stood there and swayed happily, content and safely uninterrupted in the warm temple room for a few more long, wonderful minutes before Roman was struck with realization.

“Virgil? I just had a thought.” Roman grinned at the inquiring hum he received, knowing the other had made himself quite comfortable against the sun god’s warm shoulder. “You have never attended a festival before..” Another answering hum, “Soo.. that means you don’t have a festival outfit!” Roman’s excitement could easily be heard mounting in his voice alone, and Virgil was left floundering again, so enraptured by the others metaphorical sunshine. Virgil mustered up enough will to tilt his head to the side, exposing his mouth enough to talk more easily, “No, I don't.. Your point?”

“My poooint, is that we need to make one for you!” In Roman’s excitement, he plucked Virgil up again and twirling him around, slowing only slightly when the other gave an upset groan in reaction.

“But Roman, why can’t I wear this? It’s already plenty flashy and extravagant..” the Ravenette whined softly, arms slipping around Roman’s neck to secure himself himself and steady their spinning.

“Heaven’s no, My magnificent Moon! You can’t wear that because that is your everyday attire, my dear! This is a Solstice Festival, a twice in a year occurrence to celebrate our balance and unity, there will be no faltering in representing your beauty, in style nor personality! These days are special, and I will not let you under-represent yourself!”

“But Roman-” Virgil paused, purposefully pausing their spin by placing his feet firmly to the ground, still holding the other close. “I don’t- I- Just because I’m not.. wearing something extravagant, doesn’t mean I’ll be under-represented..”

He watched guiltily as Roman’s excitement deflated a little, and the sigh that Roman gave wasn’t too reassuring either. “I.. I know, Virgil. I just, I just want you to enjoy this, want you to feel like a part of the sky, like you always deserved to be. I know you aren’t used to standing out, used to being at the center of attention but, just this once, I think this might.. help? Think about it this way..”

Roman slowly guided Virgil to a window, sitting on the windowsill and pulling the smaller into his lap so that they could gaze out into the night sky and the active villages below it. “Each one of us already has a themed Solstice Festival outfit, representing what we are. They all match in a way, so if you don’t wear one made to match as well, people might stare, they might question why, I just, I don’t care about the backlash we could get, I care about the caused attention that could be centered on you, because I know you are easily overwhelmed by that.” Virgil was now leaned against Roman’s chest as they gazed out at the town below, Roman’s hand carding through the smaller’s hair while the other was entwined with one of Virgil’s own. The solar god’s voice was laced with nervousness and worry, something unusual and unlike him to show around Virgil. It was after a few moments that Virgil realized that Roman had shared a very vulnerable piece of himself inlaid with worry to Virgil, and was waiting for a response in return.

“Look, Ro.. I, I get it, you’re worried about me, and, that's.. that's weird to say for myself but..” Roman’s hand gave a gentle squeeze, which Virgil returned before continuing, “But, I guess, the outfit thing doesn’t sound so bad, when you put it that way. And.. I said that I trust you, I can see that you care, and uh.. yeah.. I’m not good at this..” he earned another hand squeeze from Roman before receiving a gentle kiss on the head and a soft “Thank you.”

They stayed like that in each others arms for another few moments, enjoying the mutual quiet as Virgil tucked himself against Roman once more.

Roman would later call a monk to retrieve to remaining two gods and bring them to the temple’s creation room so that they may all begin work on Virgil’s festival attire, but for now, the two would enjoy a quiet pleasant nap together, finally at peace.

.

Part Two!

General Writings Taglist: @peanut0303 @ashrain5 @wentzdayz @kanejandkruge @ultimate-queen-of-fandoms2 @jadedragon1903 @thecasualinsomniac @analogical-chaos @confinesofpersonalknowledge @planetsanders @queen-of-all-things-snuggly @thekeytohappiness-is-you @today-only-happens-once

#sanders sides #virgil sanders #roman sanders #prinxiety #godsoftheskyau #luka writes #au fic rec

[lord-dusk]

Jurassic Emblem-Chapter 10

Scales are quite tricky to draw. Anyhow, there’s the second boss of the game!

 Nifl was a cold, desolate land of snow,bones,ice,and blood. Frozen blood. It wasn’t quite the Kirby-esque happy place you’d thought it would be, after the Nifl-Muspell incident where Askran forces killed off warped versions of video-game protagonists and The elder Nifl princess Guunthra being roasted alive like some yummy Barbie-Cute pork. And the situation got particularly better when the sun-dragon Helios was frozen solid, condemning the whole area into everlasting night.

At least the stars and moon looked very charming and exquisite, white stellar bodies illuminating the aqua-blue sky.

Blue and Lucina were marching through the snow, huddling each other for thermal radiation. Blue, having grown up on a tropical island for much of her life, had borrowed Lucina’s scarf and cape for extra warmth(don’t get into that frappucino debate on feathers please). Lucina, having grown up in a desert country with enough rainfall to sustain a 15m-tall scythe-wielding flesh golem, found it rather uncomfortable trekking through the snow. Ryukami the mosasaurus had stayed behind at the ice-floes to catch up on some Nisioisin novels.

The raptors were marching onwards to the north of Nifl, sometimes passing by some shrubs and frost-covered rocks. Just when Lucina thought things were getting rather monotonous, she saw something rustle out of the bushes. Blue took notice as well and saw what appeared to be a penguin-like bird with white spots on its face waddling in a panicked manner before a fox-squirrel thing pounced on it and tore apart its head from its socket, crimson blood and pieces of esophagus and vocal cord spilling out unto the snow and dying it red. Blue and Lucina were eyeing the fox-squirrel as it dug heavy mitten-like foreclaws into the bird’s torso and stringy pink intestines splooged out. Lucina decided to look away and went on her way. Blue paid no attention to the carnage after that as well.

“That was a Repenomamus devouring a Great Auk,” Blue explained. “The world where I from, InGen didn’t simply revived dinosaurs, they brought back Paleozoic and Cenozoic fauna as well. Although if I were you, I wouldn’t dare pet a reppy.”

“Why? Are they dangerous?” Lucina asked. Blue can easily tell right off the bat that humans like Lucina had a profound desire to prod and hold small,furry mammals.

“Oh yes. Reppies are one mammal you do NOT want to pet; despite looking like a Pomeranian with mole-claws, they WILL try to eviscerate you; for a mammal from the Mesozoic they are quite big enough to eat small dinosaurs.”

“Hmm? I assumed mammals evolved after the demise of the giant lizards.”

“Actually, they co-existed with the dinosaurs, though they were bit characters in a world dominated by reptiles bursting with presence and charisma. Repenomamus was the biggest furry during its time, but most of its kin were barely any bigger than an Amiibo figure.”

“And that penguin-looking bird?”

“Uh-huh. That great auk was NOT a penguin-it’s actually more closely related to puffins than to the famous diving birds south of the Equator. Although, it was the the only auk that converted its flight power to swimming power completely, and those damn humans wiped its existence off the face of the Earth.”

“You know quite a lot about animals before the dawn of man, don’t you?” Lucina commented.

“I’m a creature from before man myself, though I wouldn’t be too surprised if InGen resurrected species routed by humanity, like the dodo and the gastric mouth-brooding frog.” Blue replied.

“Come to think of it, isn’t it harder to clone a mammal than say, a reptile or a fish?”

“Yes, Henry Wu of InGen has cloned mammals occasionally, but found it quite tedious because mammalian red cells do not have nuclei, where the DNA are located. You would need to find white cells, which are much less common than their red counterparts in a ratio of 2 to 12.”

“Reptiles and birds, on the other hand, have nuclei within their red blood cells, and Henry Wu is a genius when it comes to manipulating DNA.” Blue explained, frowning.

“Who is this Henry Wu that you speak of ?”

“Why, as a human being, Dr.Henry Wu is a tacky SOB who creates red-eyed, mangled-toothed fatherfuckers and is considered a most dangerous man with the most dangerous technology in the sad history of humanity. He attempted to use my blood to create a line of Indoraptors to sell off for military purposes.”

Seems Wu sounds a LOT like that sperm-slurper Validar, Lucina grimly thought.

 The two of them chatted like this for the entirely of their walk until they reached Nifl Castle.

                                              *********

 Blue and Lucina had arrived at the castle of Nifl, but they were no guards to greet them. Well they were guards present-but they were frozen solid, and clusters of repenomamuses were busily gnawing away at the frozen body cavities.

 I guess a species changes its behavior accordingly to the environment, Blue though as she and her partner pushed the gates open. They went inside the interior and up the stairs.

“Something tells me the weather outside isn’t the reason those soldiers were icicles,” Lucina said, walking behind Blue.”Would it be a bad idea to go into the kitchen wing and grab some potions for the upcoming boss fight?”

The charcoal velociraptor sniffed the solid,icy air. It stinged her nose. “I don’t see why not,” she answered. “though if you see some ANY creature, reppy or not, attacking you, don’t hesitate to knock their heads off.”

Blue waited at the second floor while Lucina brisky walked to the the kitchen downstairs. A few minutes later, she was back.

“Are you ready for certain? During the boss-fight there will be no pee-pee breaks, and no daddy in white shining armor with a shotgun and a motorbike crashing through the windows to save either of us. Understood?” Blue interviewed.

“No need for any of that,” Lucina replied. “Let’s get this over with. I feel as though my body is becoming a gelato cone.”

 “Good. If my nose knows, she is just around the corner. Follow me.” the raptors headed to the corridor on the right and came across a door that read “Hrid’s Room: Out for Lunch”. They entered.

“Ugh. That was the fifth time someone has stepped in without my consent,” an icy voice hissed. “Do any of you thin-telligent organisms register the concept of knocking?”

 A woman was lounging on an oblong bed spotted with various books. But not a regular woman. Her lower half was that of a boa’s, turquoise-green with purple stripes, and covered with icicles.Her hair-piece were icicles as well, and her Victorian-style corset colored electric blue and black made the entire “cool” effect perfect,considering her expressions suggested otherwise.

“What do you bipeds want?” The snake woman demanded. “Did you interrupt my inspirational reading just so you can become like those popsicles outside?”

“We just want to talk,” Lucina answered.

The snake snorted. “Don’t be honest with me, be honest with you. What you really came here for is my bloody limp body that you can use to nail onto this country’s gates like a crooked Christmas decoration. Is that it, O Exalted Princess?

“Why did you freeze the sun-god? Do you recognize the biblical effects the entire world will face?” Blue questioned, her face contorting in defense for her friend.

“Let me tell you this,” the Victorian boa began. “I am the future best-selling novelist Basilice, and I sincerely have no desire to kill you. But my mistress Sha’Rad Yuwi denied my request and forced to to sacrifice my writing skills for combative means. My writing may be on hold, but my mind is certainly not. Exalted Princess, have you ever actually considered the misery of your foes that killed them because you desired to make “everyone happy”?”

“.....You can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs,” Lucina replied.

“ ‘I want everyone to be happy,’ ‘let’s end all suffering in the world,’ those are lines that make me want to vomit out the Niflites I ate yesterday. Those are the shallow,one-dimensional philosophies of idiotic eukaryotes who do not face reality.” Basilice sputtered out. “The light is full of lies, lies! People willingly bask in the glory of light so they never again have to experience the truth of the darkness below! Light is harmful, harmful! And not just the fact that overdosing on UV light promotes cancer on light skin. Do any of you bipeds know anything at all about plants other than the vascular system in high-school?”

“When plants grow, they break down soil to suit their roots for sufficient nutrient intake,” Blue raised her hand in reply.

“Precisely! Around 400 million years ago, during the Devonian period, mosses and ferns were starting to grow onto rocks near the coastlines, and inevitably, these early pioneers of the new world crumbled the rock into fine soil which washed out into the sea over thousand of years, and do you know what happened? Vertebrates started choking! Fishes here and there had no idea how to cope with this influx of mud particles from the land, their gills clogged with minerals. This, combined with volcanic eruptions, consumed all the available oxygen in the water and there were massive, massive, casualties everywhere! Because fishes and run-off from terrestrial photosynthesis do not go well together! This catastrophe makes your petty carnage across Jurassic Park and Fire Emblem look like a squabble between toddlers in comparison. And you little humans use the opportunity to view more serious issues as a excuse to lounge in your chairs eating chicken nuggets.”

“So I killed him! I killed that sick son of a bitch Helios because he’s a major liar, and I’m going to teach everyone that people deserve bad endings, everyone!” Basilice took out her Dragonstone. “And if you girls are truly good character down to the nRNA sequence, you might be spared and see everyone in the world smothered in the darkness that is free of any lies! No more pain, no more sadness!”

Blue and Lucina prepared their weapons. “Let’s fight!” 

#jurassic emblem #fire emblem heroes #jurassic world #blucina #blue(jurassic world) #lucina #basilice #fire emblem #fanfiction #nifl #and you thought plants were the good guys during AP biology in high school

[gg-astrology]

For the Namjoon ideal thing - would fire placements like Aries and Leo also go well with his moon? And also would it help if the chart is supported with earth and water placement to tone down the fire? 🍃

Hey there! 💕 Thank u for the ask uwu 💕 I’m glad you’re interested in NJ’s ideal thing! 💕 

Honestly any placement would be good with him. Every relationships depends on your own interaction with your chart, your own personal development and how much work you’re willing to put into relationships y know?

That’s why there’s no such thing as bad compatibility. It’s probably just how much you understand about yourself/others, and how much effort/forgiveness you can give to someone else. Tolerance, communication and understanding is a big thing in compatibility– and that’s just across the board (platonic/romantic ones). 

[Below Cut: NJ’s ‘ideal’ placements - Fire Moons + Earth/Water placements - Relationships 101] 

In terms of Moon Signs, yeah Aries/Leo Moon would be good with Sagittarius Moon specifically. Having the same element in the Moon signs brings a lot of understanding/sharing sympathy/vibing temperaments. But having the same elemental moon just isn’t enough to bring people together. That’s why there’s so much emphasis on looking at people’s complete chart, and their own interaction with their charts. Because in most cases, the way that Moon works/manifest in us individually is different from one person to another. 

We can share the same Moon sign with someone (and same sun/ASC) and come across completely different. That’s because our chart aren’t working the same, and the traits of say, an Aries Moon often find themselves not sharing the same traits as another person who also has an Aries Moon y know. It’s not a guarantee, and signs themselves are so vast/multi-layered that you don’t really get to pick what you’re predisposed to (that’s different from others). There’s camaraderie there, a sympathetic understanding of each other obviously (like being on the same colour-team)– but even sharing the same sign with someone, it’s not going to guarantee you’ll have great compatibility with them (which is why you see people awkwardly trying to vibe with each other, but their vibes are too stiff/awkward because they share the same sign/placements sometimes) 

It’s also to do with our houses, our other placements, our aspects, our decan, etc. The relationship from one person to another can be so different, it depends on what you feel comfortable handling and your exterior conditioning as well (like, having grown up surrounded/adopting traits of a certain sign/placement– social conditioning) 

So yes, fire-moon would definitely go well with his Moon (Tae, Jin, JK are good examples) but it’s not a guarantee/principle rule for an ‘ideal’ placement to someone. There are lots of other factors involved in making that decision, and sometimes your Moon is the same one betraying you when trying to connect to someone else. 

For the second question, it’s less about taming the fire but making the fire feel accepted/belongs/fit in. So no, having earth/water placement isn’t going to tone down the fire. Because the fire wasn’t the problem in the first place. The earth/water placement is however, going to agitate the fire even more but in the worst way/non-productive way (when it doesn’t understand each other: see below) 

It’s also more about polarity? Like the part of him that is fiery and exerted is his air/fire qualities, but it’s grounded in this heavy earth/water he has already. So when it comes to vibing off another person/wanting to see it replicated in someone else, it’s gravitating towards that same fiery/air-fire driven combo. With Tae/Jin in particular it’s because they exude heavy air (Tae’s Aquarius- Aries Moon) and fire combination (Jin’s Sagittarius Sun- Aries Moon) but there’s also conflict with the heavy Capricorns placements in them as well. 

That’s part of the reason why I didn’t include water-signs in his ideal placements, it’ll be good for him sure but that totally depends on how in-touch Namjoon is with his water-qualities/placement/consciousness. The water-sign stuff isn’t posing as the biggest problem for him– the sagittarius-libra thing is. And that’s the part he’s probably invested in more when looking to vibe off another.  

I nearly included Pisces for his ideal placements but I figured I should explain it more here, water signs are good for him (especially since Pisces/Sagittarius share the same ruler - Jupiter) but it’s more about temperaments and consciously understanding ourselves. The earth/water heavy chart poses a bigger problem of having a different approach/temperament to certain things (depending on their placements) —that without any type of air/fire conflict in them, Namjoon would feel disconnected to the person - y know? And that’s also the biggest thing with Scorpio. 

Scorpio Venus is pretty adaptable like it doesn’t have to be a water-sign or earth-sign it feels connected with. In fact it can be very fire-driven/appreciate fire-traits/earth traits. So what matters the most here is that the other person has to have that sparkly fire/air combo (20%) and an earth thing going on for them (80%). (Since his own ratio/how he perceives himself is probably going to be 80% fire/air and 20% earth/water – balancing each other out, supporting each other) 

Also understand that Sagittarius Moon like his, especially with Libra Mercury, shies away from unprompted/unexpected emotional talks of any kind. Or clear communication/personal intimate connection as a whole when he doesn’t have the time/emotional connectivity for it. It takes him a while to get into that gear, that connection to his own water-traits. So heavy water-earth temperament/approach can sometimes pose to be too ‘heavy’/ ‘emotional’ for the fire-air spark dominant relationship he’s looking for. 

It’s also just a matter of – you yourself and how much you’re willing to put up with each other realistically y know? Like as much as this is about finding what he’s good with, it’s also a matter of not compromising yourself to fit what his standards/needs are as well. Tolerance, acceptance and understanding shouldn’t be forced/felt like gritting your teeth through the entire thing.

Having a fire moon, with an earth/water heavy combination is good for you and you have your own understanding of yourself/how you can deal/sort/help with a situation someone else might be having, but its never about compromising yourself to put someone else first. 

For relationships to actually work, it’s about collaborating with one another and finding it in yourself the understanding/sympathy to another person– without ever putting yourself second to someone else. It shouldn’t feel that way ever, even when you’re coming to a decision together. It should feel like you’re working together for something for yourself, always. Even if that ‘something for yourself’ is selfless or for another, it’s something you still have control over and you’re not– sacrilege to someone else’s will (power dynamic will be tilted when you don’t take responsibilities for yourself or your inaction/action) and start the blame game/letting your relationship lead your life, y know?

I hope this answers your question! 💕 I’m sorry I pointed out a lot of ‘nos’/’buts’ in this answer sdkjfn I feel really bad for it. Again, any relationship/compatibility can work. It’s just a matter of what you know about yourself, what you’re willing to put yourself into and what you yourself decide to stick by. It’s about not compromising yourself, but also having strong sympathy/understanding for another.

So if you really feel strongly about someone else– and your ‘compatibility’/astrology says otherwise– please still go for it!! Pursue it and don’t be disheartened!! This is all just to give guidance, and making people conscious/aware of what they should/shouldn’t tolerate in others. Astrology is about looking for directions/having control of yourself  to apply it to your own life/how you treat others. All I’m pointing out is just the challenges/difficulties the relationship might face–  ‘perfect’/’ideal’ placement doesn’t exist completely (even with AA+ aspects) and a little friction/challenge is good between two people. 💕

No relationship is not going to benefit from a little difficulty/challenges that involves self-evaluation, growth and learning how to work with others. It’s the same as social conditioning, you just have to be careful with the energy you put out, the conscious effort to check yourself and to love yourself as much as you love another as well. 💕

EDIT: Also having a fire moon would make the moon trine his moon, depending on how you view that/the rest of your chart looks it could be good for your overall synastry. 💕 

#bts #bts asks #namjoon #kim namjoon #knj #namjoon asks #nj asks #nj #bts ideal types #bts ideal placements #namjoon ideal placements #🍃 #🍃 anon #anon #asks

[forge-born-blog]

Forge-Born chapters 1-5

Chapter 6 Geneva island of amazons.

                                                     Forge-Born                                                  A New Odyssey                     Bang! .... Bang!!..... Bang!!.... The sound of mighty thunder as metal meets metal. Bang!!... Bang!!... Bang!!!... With each clap a flash of light illuminates the dark room. Between each strike we gain a glimpse of a humanoid like figure, only this is no man. The creature is truly a nightmare of an image. No even creature does not explain this being, a more apt description would be god. Hephaestus God of the forge. As Hephaestus strike his hammer against a large mound of steel he begins to speak loudly to himself, as though he were addressing someone else. " It was long ago in a time before man, before beast, before gods, before the entities Gaia and Uranus. When all that existed was Chaos and Darkness. A single spark was all it took and in moments the course of history would change. From this spark formed order, formed Gaia and Uranus. For millennia that spark was not to be seen, until one day the spark flashed once more and mankind had came into existence. Today I hope to be given a chance to see that spark. He places his hands on some object and they begin to glow a bright red & white. The object begins to glow and now we can see it. It appears to be a sculpture of a boy made of steel. Today is the day a new legend is born. With blood of iron and body of steel. The legend of the Forge-Born." Chapter 1 "Father!!" A young voice screams. "father look!" The boy points to the sea. As he does Hephaestus steps onto a beach staring at the boy. Now in the sun we can truly see Hephaestus. He is large taller then any man butt a far cry from a giant. His skin is thick like an elephant with discoloration all over grey white black his skin tone varies in blotches like ink blots. His eyes are sunken and unresponsive as though the intense sunlight doesn't bother him. His mouth is more like a beast with jowls and fangs. His body is strong, or at least it seems that way until you see him resting one palm on cane. As he slowly limps across the beach cane in hand he ask the boy." My boy how many times must we have this conversation." "Oh right heehee" the boy attempts to contain his laughter. Hephaestus somehow seems delighted with the boys laughter rather then angry. "Well what is it, tell me what do you see?" "Out in the water it's some big object with a tarp flowing into the wind." "Oh I see now" Hephaestus grins. "what is it father another sea monster?" "No boy it's a ship." "A ship... wait father does that mean there are humans." "I would most likely assume so." "Wow really?..” The boy gazes at the ship with wanderlust  "Father one day I'd like to be on a boat like that." Hephaestus's face sinks as he mutters "someday I hope you will get the chance."      7 years later         The forest is silent when suddenly a loud boom goes off. As the smoke clears we here a man coughing."Damn seems I was bit off on the ratios." As the man begins to stamp out small embers we notice the face is familiar to that of the young boy. Only now as a man he is something more akin to a warrior. His face is Fairly well, no Adonis but easy on the eyes. What stands out most though are his ember eyes. As the man is finished stamping out the fire a loud voice is heard throughout the forest. "Vulcan where are you what manner of messes have you made today?" Shit. the man responds. "Nothing to worry about father I've got it all under control." Hephaestus retorts "funny you said the same thing last time and now Pygmas has no eyebrow." The man's reaction is one of embarrassment. “Well whatever it is it can wait. I need your help on the forge.” After walking an acre Vulcan nears a mountain with a house along the side down below is a large cave that Vulcan enters. In it we see Hephaestus hard at work hammering down some item on an anvil. Surrounding him are 5 giants with one eye who all seem to be busy with their smithing. Finally Vulcan nears Hephaestus "Good now take this and hold it steady around the horn." Vulcan follows the gods instructions and grabs a circular object and presses it firmly against the edge of the Anvil horn. As he does this Hephaestus grasps a large hammer and starts beating against it "another shield huh." Vulcan remarks."Maybe , if you hold it still enough." As the two work together on the shield they begin to banter back and forth until Hephaestus ask a question. " So Vulcan what was it this time another one of your science inventions." Vulcan responds quickly speaking as soon as Hephaestus finishes his last syllable" yes I'm onto something amazing I just need to run some more test." "Could you use any help." Vulcan ponders his answer for a few seconds." Honestly I could, but I really want to try this one on my own father" “Oh can't wait to get out of your old man's shadow ehh boy." Hephaestus grins as he says it. "That's not it I just want to prove this to myself; to prove that I can become a builder like you." For a moment Hephaestus pauses then continues to beat on the shield " I'm very proud of you don't worry someday you will become an even greater craftsman then me." Vulcan almost cries at those words. All his life he's never admired anyone more than Hephaestus, he knew of the other gods yet the one he was always amazed by was Hephaestus. His father was strong willed and wise. Even while being a god he was humble and never thought himself above any creature and to top it all off he was an amazing craftsman. He could build anything : jewelry,trinkets, mechanisms, coliseums, and yes even weapons and armor of unimaginable quality. Suddenly they hear a loud bell. "They're here" Hephaestus says. "Who" ask Vulcan." The ones picking up this shield. As Hephaestus finishes putting on the last of the grips on the shield he tells Vulcan to greet his guest upstairs. Now inside the upper floor he sees a man draped in black and a younger one draped in purple and black he recognizes the first man but has no clue as to the second. While standing there pondering the mans identity Hephaestus walks in from behind him ah hades it's been some time uncle. Glad to see you the man shrouded in jet black cloak and corporeal darkness speaks and as he does so it fills the room with dread. "yes same for you Hephaestus  and you as well Vulcan." Vulcan pushes his curiosities aside and realizes his rudeness" Apologies lord hades" hades smiles although even though it is innocent to him on the outside it looks sinister" No need for apologies Vulcan you are family after all." Hades points to the smaller individual beside him donning similar attributes only in a purple shade" Excuse me allow me to introduce my son regon. It's his shield we've come to collect today." "Ah good to finally meet you Regon I've heard a great many things of you." Says Hephaestus, Regon then responds "As well I you smith. However I must admit I've heard nothing of you having a son Vulcan was it. Vulcan clenches his fist as though he's just been threatened and prepared to fight for his life. Hades speaks up "Regon do not pry. The smith is a powerful ally and respectful man leave it alone." Regon nods silently. " come with us the shields downstairs the cyclops are testing it." Hades is then reminded of something." Speaking of cyclops Hephaestus are you waxing them now?We ran into Pygmas on lookout and he seems to be missing the hair on his brow." Ha!Vulcan immediately covers his mouth trying to contain his laughter, you can see his body quiver as he chuckles with his right hand over his mouth and left hand to his side. The party just ignores him and heads towards the shield. When finding himself alone he uses the opportunity to break away and head towards his own lab deep in the forest. He has work to do otherwise he would have stayed. He rather enjoys hades as he seems to be the only God that respects his father and regularly pays him visits, he's also the only God his father allows him to speak to or come into contact with. In fact as a young boy when hades and Hephaestus were deep in conversation he would allow him to play with Cerberus. He doesn't know why the other gods hate his father or why they can't know of his own existence, but he came to realize long ago through his father and the cyclops stories, that the gods weren't the merciful or flawless beings they're portrayed as. While Vulcan fires up a forge in his workshop Hephaestus is back home speaking with hades. "Thank you again smith for the work you've done." " No need hades you practically keep me employed and I rather enjoy our talks. Not to mention you've kept the identity of Vulcan to yourself and for that I owe you greatly. I'd rather he not get wrapped up in the world of the Divine and immortals. "Speaking of that Hephaestus did you know where Zeus was headed today?" " No I'm afraid I have not contacted Olympus in years. I'm sure you're aware of my strained relations with our family." " Quitewell smith, then it pains me to say but I felt I should give you warning today Zeus visit's the Moirai.” The air turns hostile as a terrified Hephaestus exclaims "The sisters of fate! When hades?" " I do not know nephew I just felt the need to tell you so you might prepare yourself. I will be taking my leave I cannot interfere with my brothers affairs, however I felt I should warn you. Sorry that is all I could do." As he says this hades and Regon fall into a dark abyss. "Thank you hades for warning me, you've done enough." As hades disappears. Hephaestus shouts VUUULLCANNN!!! The words sound loud and carry deep into the Forest. Moments before this Vulcan was leaving his workshop and heading back home. "Finally!" he says to himself "A sword that isn't worthless." Vulcan raises an clothed item into the air, his face covered in ash and carbon with a grin as wide as the crescent moon. Vulcan thinks maybe with this he can go out to the world of man. Sword at his side he can become an adventurer and see the world. With this he wouldn't even have to fear the gods. Suddenly he hears his father cry out for him more panicked then ever before something is wrong just as he turns and pushes off the ground to run a flash of light comes down cutting through the air colliding with the earth, with a tremendous crackle and boom knocking him to the ground. This is thunder and what follows thunder is destruction. As he looks up at the ravaged earth in front of him he sees him. The King of gods, Power incarnate, Clade in lightning ZEUS and his eyes scream bloodlust. Chapter 2 abomination Gobsmacked and in awe. Vulcan lays they're paralyzed unable to run with frozen feet, not even able to find his voice to scream or speak. So shocked he even forgets how to breath Vulcan lies helpless. For years he's heard of the gods of there amazing power and heavy auras but he never expected anything like this. The pressure emanating from this god is like an ocean filling the air dragging him to the bottom helpless against it. He now truly understands what places gods above men. Lying there deprived of oxygen he begins to lose the strength in his body, but just as his eyes begin to close he catches sight of a familiar figure walking towards them with a cane." Vulcan did I not warn you of the presence of gods. It appears you'll have to learn now, focus your mind and will. Remember to not give in to a greater force, push back on the aura with your own and most importantly hide your fear.” With those words Vulcan begins to fall in and out of consciousness. As he begins to practice his father's teachings the weight on his chest gets lighter. Zeus and Hephaestus stand there watching the young man. To the world outside this sight is unexplainable and would go without understanding, but to those intertwined in the Divine this is nothing new. Thousands have died from sheer presence of the Divine alone. Gods can intensify or diminish the aura they place forward. Although many wouldn't know it from the current sight Hephaestus knows all to well Vulcan is gifted in this form of combat via godly presence. Against any average Devine being he would have already returned to strength but this is Zeus. Hephaestus stands there torn over his sons predicament, alas there's nothing he can do. He could fight Zeus in an attempt to stop the overwhelming pressure he exudes, but not only would he lose that fight in order to do so he would have to unleash his aura as well and with his and Zeus's combined pressures Vulcan would not survive. All he can do is stand and watch his son cling to life. Finally there's a breakthrough both men sense it a will of iron refusing to be crushed by the weight. Vulcans eyes open as his body rises like an undead corpse, gasping for air. Hephaestus is pleased Zeus however has not lost his angry demeanor. As Vulcan slowly makes his way to his feet with his arm pressed against the ground for support shaking, he can't believe it Zeus didn't lift a finger and he nearly died just from being in his presence. Hephaestus steps in front of Vulcan shielding him from Zeus's gaze before asking "what is it you are doing here Zeus?" Zeus responds with furry in his voice." Watch your tongue Hephaestus It is your king you are speaking too." Hephaestus bites his tongue and waits for a response. Zeus caring not for the concerns of Hephaestus waits some time before responding "I am here regarding a prophecy given to me by the Moirai." Hephaestus hesitates and thinks of his question before speaking. " May I ask what this prophecy is exactly." " The sisters have informed you have done the unthinkable. You have broken the greatest rule. You created new life where there was none. I am king of all none but me shall be allowed to create life. Hephaestus was I not lenient when the sisters gave me the prophecy years ago of your betrayal" Hephaestus interjects "Zeus, father I told you there was no betrayal I would never forge a weapon to kill you." Mid sentence he is cut off by Zeus" How dare you call me that you are no son of mine I casted you out of Olympus I showed leniency and even now you mock me with that abomination behind you." Vulcan is perplexed could he be referring to him. What's this on about Hephaestus creating life he understood all to well of the rule of life how none is supposed to create it not even gods for such life would go against nature itself. He knows such an act could never be forgiven and that the creature could not be allowed to continue living. Still why does he speak of him that way Vulcan is no creation. He was told he was the son of Hephaestus and a lower God. He knows nothing of his true origin. Many might be confused with this statement believing Gods to have created life many times however there are rules firstly life cannot be made where it did not previously exist you may turn a tree into a mortal however you may not turn stone to man. Two if it is made from nothing it may not have will nor mind of its own hence golems and lastly it may not be given the ability to pass on to a new generation. In creating Vulcan Hephaestus broke this covenant incurring the wrath of Zeus. "Your creation neither man nor God this creature does not belong in this world. Step aside and allow me to destroy it and I may be merciful to you afterwards. " Vulcan's heart clenches itself. To think the one who stands above would desire his death what could he do he couldn't possibly fight and hope to win. Run how can he outrun lighting. As Vulcan's heart races a comforting voice reassures him.  "Calm down my son no harm shall come to you. You have as much a right to life as any living creature and I will defend that right with my own life if I must." As he says those endearing and heartfelt words he stares at Zeus and says "I challenge you for the right to rule Olympus on the grounds of my blood as one of the twelve seats." Zeus grits his teeth seething with anger the surrounding environment begins to shutter. Hephaestus has invoked the right to challenge only a shameful God and weak ruler would refuse. Very well I will kill you first, then the abomination. I shall return with an audience at sundown to oversee. After Zeus leaves Vulcan drops to the floor exhausted. After a few hours the sun begins to set Vulcan wakes up at home. Suddenly it all comes back to him he leaps out of bed screaming no. Hephaestus comes and hugs him telling him to calm himself. Vulcan looks up at him tears in his eyes and ask why he challenged Zeus he cannot hope to win. Hephaestus looks down at him and says " Because you are my son." "But I'm not I heard him I'm not your son I'm not human not God I'm..I shouldn't exist." "Vulcan weather or not you should have existed isn't important the fact remains you do exist you feel you bleed you cry and laugh. I can no longer lie to you so I will tell you the truth Vulcan. Many years ago I lived with the Olympians at first I wanted to be one to be accepted by them but I never was for that I grew to despise them I became angry and vain and did many things I'm no longer proud of. Eventually in time I began to forgive them and place my heart at ease after that I was able to see the evil of the gods and there indifference to the plights of man. I pleaded with them and begged them to help the humans to show mercy, but alas my words fell on deaf ears. The gods were a conceited lot but still they were my family and I loved them and I had no intention to take my family to war. So instead I took up an oath of pacifism I vowed to never participate in there wars or the wars of man and that I would never forge another weapon. When Zeus demanded weapons I refused this deeply angered him he felt as though it was a challenge against his authority which had him grow paranoid of my betrayal. So he sought out the sisters of fate for guidance on the matter. That was when they informed him of a vision they had that I would forge a new weapon one that would kill him. Opun hearing these words he attempted to end my existence, but perhaps some small ounce of fatherly affection remained because he did not deliver the finishing blow; instead he banished me from Olympus and barred me from ever forging another weapon. In time I found this island of cyclops other creatures resented by their father for there imperfect figures. I became like a mentor to them taught them to forge and communicate. Still though life was lonely I missed my family even though they were cruel and unkind. I became so lonely I came up with an idea. What I was about to do was blasphemy to the highest degree. I was about to break the supreme rule of the Divine. Life shall never be created from nothing only Zeus himself may ever create new life. This law stands above all others the punishment for breaking it is death. In my lost state I began to work on my finest craft ever I would forge his bones of steel his blood of hot iron and his flesh of copper & bronze. Still such a task is no mere small feat. Although the law exist even without it none could perform this feat. Creating new life is tricky when Zeus Aphrodite and I created woman we nearly abandoned the efforts but some force greater than our understanding aided us. For you it was the same try as I might you remained a statue of metal. I don't know how or why but somehow something breathed life into you my son and on that day you came to be a creature born of the forge.” "But that means I am an abomination."  "Look at me son it is true you are neither God nor man. However you are no monster you deserve life just as any man. Here I found this beside you" he hands him the clothed item from before “I found it beside I had hoped you would not mind I had a look at it." Vulcan removes the cloth reveal a jade tinted blade. It's beautiful almost like an ornament. He's almost too afraid to ask but somehow finds the courage. “What did you think?” "Interesting indeed your work with a blade is truly remarkable however it is undeniably yours the work of a young man."  " What's that mean." Ask Vulcan "It's truly exceptional and Finely forged, incredibly sharp and well made. Only it's not suitable for combat. It's to be expected your young and inexperienced in war. Your blade is impractical it's appearance is a beauty and like that of a proper heroes blade but it would never be used In combat. You see a smith must not only make the strongest weapon he must also take into account the warrior wielding it and its purpose. Sometimes you have a smaller warrior so a large or long blade is impractical sometimes they have armor or shields so a sharp edge is useless other times it simply does not feel right from the grip or isn't designed to swing according to the Warriors method." With the more he describes the more Vulcan sulks which Hephaestus takes notice of. "Don't be disappointed Vulcan you are a fine craftsman and the blade is incredibly durable and sharp it shows how well your technique and skill at the forge is. This lack of foresight was on me I taught you all the secrets to the forge save  weapons. I wish I had more time to teach you but I'm afraid our time is up the sun is setting. Take this he throws a bag at Vulcans feet. What is this for are we going to run. No boy you will I will stay here and fight. But why we can bo-- I gave my word I challenged him now I can not go back on that. A man is nothing without his word. Humans taught me that and hopefully they can teach you the same. Go there's a ship waiting for you at the north beach. Inside that bag is a map you will head to Geneva a small island not far from here where you will meet your guide. You already know how to read the stars, but take this it's something I've been working on It will help keep you going in the right direction. Hephaestus shows him what appears to be a primitive compass. But father I can help you or maybe I can offer myself to Zeus you shouldn't have to die for nothing. No. Please! dammit boy I...fine you want to help. Hephaestus drops the compass. pick that up we will have use for it later. As Vulcan reaches down Hephaestus strikes him over the back of his head breaking his cane over it. He looks down at the unconscious Vulcan then back at his broken cane and mutters "You've got a hard head boy." He proceeds to pick him up and throw him outside into the arms of a brow less cyclops. "Pygma take care of the boy." Pygma nods and vanishes with Vulcan into the forest. As Hephaestus makes his way down the stairway he hears Zeus land and call for him Hephaestus show yourself I've come for your challenge with witnesses Apollo Hera and Athena. As he reaches the end of the staircase he heads to a corner of his workshop towards a locked trunk. Hephaestus! Zeus shouts I hope you have not suddenly realized you're fear and become to cowardly to face me. A golden draped man by Zeus speaks up "Father I must admit picking on a crippled and feeble old man does not sit well with me must this continue." Now one of the women by Zeus interjects "Careful Apollo the smith may be weak in body and his mind may also have confliction, but he is a seat on Olympus  for a reason even after being cast out. Father I beg you reconsider the smith would pose a great loss to us" "Silence Athena the smith has laid his bed... but if it will put you all at ease, I will make it quick.. " quick huh..." The sound of Heavy metal rattling follows the voice. "Perhaps you have forgotten just what a battle is like Zeus" the voice comes from the cave as a grinning Hephaestus steps out clad in armor from head to toe an arsenal of weapons on his person. He stands with one hand holding a large spear pressed into the ground almost as if replacing his cane the other hand holding a flail attached to a long chain. It's as though he were a gladiator of great legend. Chapter 3 Even Gods Bleed The other gods stand in shock of the sight before them. Zeus is enraged at the sight of Hephaestus in armor. "What is the meaning of this smith? I thought this was duel among gods." Unfazed he responds " It is"  “then why do you sully it with trinkets.” “Father you seem to misunderstand nowhere does it say armor or weapons are forbidden.” “I would think your pride wouldn't allow such a poor display.” “ Yes pride would stop most men however men are foolish a warrior knows the battlefield is not to be treated as a playground things like pride matter not in battlegrounds. You do what you must to win to survive to protect the ones you care for. Today you threatened my son and I would swallow my pride before I ever let you bring him harm. Come father today one of us shall die here on this battlefield.” After recognizing the danger Athena voices her concern. “Zeus be wise this is the smith and those are his hand crafted weapons I recognize them this fight will be dangerous nothing requires you to face him like this.” “ Silence Athena very well smith I shall teach you you're toys mean nothing before true power” as he says this Zeus hurls a thunderbolt. The smith slams down the spear into the ground in its path after nearing the spear the lightning draws to the staff discharging into the ground. Hephaestus spins his flail before throwing it at Zeus smashing against his face it flings Zeus clear across the field. “Father your power is what gives you strength but me my gifts of the forge lend me strengths I could never attain on my own I may be old & broken but do not believe me  helpless by any means." Zeus snarls at Hephaestus the smith grips his spear and with his good leg pushes off the ground leaving a crater at the point of liftoff. Zeus takes hold of the spear catching it as it pierces him. Only allowing it to penetrate a mere inch of flesh, then creating a burst of lighting that sends Hephaestus flying into the mountain behind them. After coming to his feet Zeus takes the spear and breaks it over his knee Hephaestus stairs at him with a fierce eyes “as I said Hephaestus toys” he says as he drops the broken spear. Then in almost an instant Zeus stands in front of Hephaestus still processing what just occurred Hephaestus is unable to react as Zeus buries his fist into his face following that blow is a flurry of strikes each more powerful than the last. Even fully clad in armor seems to mean nothing as Zeus's power does not appear to be diminished in any way. Hephaestus knows the strength of this armor well he once tested it against against the might of a tsunami and yet not even a scratch, but here it may as well be simple cloth. Finally after growing tired Zeus ends his onslaught he stands menacingly over the bruised and bloody Hephaestus. In that moment it what appeared to be a a man clinging to his last bits of life Hephaestus pulled his hammer from his side gripping the handle firmly he raised it to the air his arm shaking barely able to hold it. In this moment tears came to his eyes as he thought of his son, he knew it had not been enough time he could not die yet. So with every ounce of his being he whispered one word" Forge" he followed those words by striking his hammer down on the mountain behind. In a mere moment after contact a mammoth sized steel gauntlet erupted from the wall punching Zeus. Forcing him out of the mountain falling to the ground below with a large thud. Zeus and the other gods look up to the mountain to see Hephaestus axe in hand looking down upon them. He jumps down to Zeus as he sees this he respond by hurling lighting at him but Hephaestus pushes down with his axe splitting the bolt in two the landing all his weight on Zeus then grabbing at his shoulders he opens his large jowls and begins spewing fire and magma. Through the magma reaches Zeus's hand wrapping around Hephaestus throat stopping the red bile. With the fire gone we now see Zeus's face angry covered with burns and scorch marks. With his free hand he strikes Hephaestus but Hephaestus returns with a blow of his own forcing Zeus to relinquish his grip back and forth the gods trade blows however this is no equivalent exchange as Hephaestus strikes get weaker and far more infrequent, sometimes taking two or three blows before delivering his own. Hephaestus then grips the blade at his side and slices at Zeus's leg. Zeus responds but not quickly enough to avoid injury just to avoid a more serious strike. He then takes a few paces back as Hephaestus raise his sword at him. “Aiming for my legs eh truly a warriors cunning.” Zeus mentions. “Well I have to do something to slow you down after all my leg isn't quite as spry as yours.” Hephaestus points to his weak leg trembling at the strain. Zeus stairs at both legs then comments

“It's quite incredible how you've been able to fight while balancing on one leg.” “I've had practice. Tell me father would you reconsider allowing my son to live if I surrendered now and agreed to forge for you once again.” “I've already told you smith you're no son of mine and that abomination is no son of yours I cannot allow such a being to exist that challenges the very nature of the universe itself.” “ You mean you could not allow anything to exist that cannot owe it's very existence to you. This has nothing to do with gods the boy could never hope to challenge your place in the universe his power is not Devine. He's closer to man then God. Why should his life be invalid simply because he is neither, because his very existence is a blight on your dominance over this world.” “ Hephaestus  before I kill You I will rip out you're heathenish tongue.” “I see then” he stares at Hera and the other gods “mother brother sister please know that I tried to seek a peaceful solution I did not simply seek bloodshed.” As the blood began to drip from his palms they begin to glow and the blood begins to boil and burn. As Hephaestus breathes embers fill the the very air he exhales. He grabs his hammer then places one hand to the floor and again he utters the words " forge" instantly multiple large blades protrude from the ground aiming for Zeus. In retaliation he unleashes a wave of thunder atomizing the blades. From his side appears Hephaestus his open hand reaches for Zeus's face igniting the very air it passes through. Zeus however manages to avoid it Hephaestus quickly changes tactics shifting his position using his hammer he delivers a backhanded strike smashing Zeus's nose. After catching sight of this Hephaestus remarks "it has been a long time since I have seen you bleed father." Chapter 4  Hephaestus God of the forge Out far off the coast of the island floats a small ship in which Vulcan still lays unconscious. As the battle between gods rages on in the distant island, the sounds of the clash awaken him. He awakens unaware of where he is he looks around surprised to see himself surrounded by water. After getting his bearings he realizes he must have been knocked out and placed on this ship. The sounds of the battle shift his focus to the island. His chest Tightens as even out here he can feel the gods crushing auras. He thinks of the struggle his father must be facing, without hesitation he turns the ship around and heads for the island only by some act of universe or perhaps a god, a gust of wind catches his sails pulling him further out to sea. All he  can do is watch the island get smaller and smaller in the distance for he is now at the mercy of the winds and the sea. Back on the island the tide of battle has once again shifted as Zeus fueled by rage at his own blood ferociously beat down Hephaestus. However Hephaestus seems to be pleased. The smile over Hephaestus faces further infuriates Zeus prompting more brutality. Zeus doesn't understand so he ask " Why do you smile Hephaestus once I've ended your existence I will chase your abomination. None can escape me for I see all.” “ Hah you fool father you've become so arrogant in the time since I've seen you I'm fully aware of your sight and that of mothers which is why I gifted him a device imbued with magic capable of hiding him from you.” “ What. You lie smith.” “You know me well Zeus you know me to be capable of such feats.” Arghhh! Zeus lets out a howl as he summons thunder to strike Hephaestus. Leaving a giant scare in Hephaestus chest. Hephaestus however has accepted death and does not fear it. He thinks of his long life of his ups and downs his younger years. Hephaestus was not like other gods he wasn't born perfect. Angry at Zeus for having Athena with another women Hera set out to make a child of her own with no help from any man. She would give birth to what the world would see as a monster. At his birth Hephaestus was already horribly disfigured and ugly he resembled more the creatures of Tartarus then the Adonis's of Olympus. Still his mother loved him then. She named him Hephaestus after one of her other lovers. Zeus however could not stand him, while he gazed at the hideousness and imperfection of Hephaestus it drove him mad not only was he monstrous in form but his body was frail and weak smaller then most babies and barely clinging to life. He could never call such a pathetic creature one of his pantheon his existence was a smear on all the gods and his name. Still he chose to accept the child as his own for the sake of Hera but made sure to keep him out of view of the world. Every Night however the sounds of his cries would drive him mad as it only reminded him of his failure. This continued for some time until one night Zeus awoke in a fit of rage, Hera hearing the babies cries awoke to find Zeus standing at the cliff side of Olympus holding the infant. She pleaded and begged him not too but he ignored her cries as he threw the child with all his might down into the sea and rocks below. Zeus now believing himself to be rid of the blight returned to sleep. Only fate would still not be so kind for Hephaestus. The frail boy miraculously survived the fall. Only his body was mangled his leg broken beyond repair the infant was in pure agony. He cried but his howls were swallowed by the ocean as he began to drown. For sure he would have died had this sight had naught of caught the attention of a nearby water nymph.  The nymph dragged the child to an underground cave under mount Olympus here he nursed the child back to health. After a few years the child had been lucky enough to to survive and grow healthier and more hardy a complete contrast to his frail form as a child sadly however the leg could not be saved. A pity thought the nymph if not for that the child would have grown to be an unrivaled gladiator his physical prowess far surpassed any being before him. Sadly however he will never be able to walk without support. How cruel the gods are thought the nymph. More years had passed and Hephaestus grew interested in the forge after years of isolation for fear of Zeus actions should he found out the boy was alive and the nymph saved him the nymph pleaded for Hephaestus to remain in the cave. Owing everything to him Hephaestus agreed to stay they're till he reached maturity. Finally after a decade more he set out into the world it was not long after he made a name for himself as a smith. Eventually one of his pieces of jewelry made its way to the gods they demanded the name of the maker Hephaestus they replied. The gods were shocked although not relieved they still did not care for Hephaestus even in time hera began to regret ever having conceived him. Still they admired his craft. And order him forge items of equal beauty for them. Hermes was sent however upon hearing this Hephaestus refused still angered over the gods treatment of him and the loss of his leg. Request after request was sent and refused until the gods began to threaten him. Angry Hephaestus came up with a plan he sent Hera a beautifully crafted chair all the gods gathered around to see. Hera loved this chair it's only flaw once seated she could not unseet herself for sometime the gods laughed at Hephaestus joke only after hours had passed and Hera could not move they realized the severity Hephaestus had trapped Hera. None could release her not even Zeus so they sent gods down to ask Hephaestus free her they asked kindly he refused so in response they sent Aires God of war to threaten him but Hephaestus was different from the others he held no fear. In fact it was Aires who was shaken upon return to Olympus. Still the gods the pleaded until eventually he was offered a seat on Olympus and the hand of Aphrodite. Pleased Hephaestus released Hera. In the coming years Hephaestus would grow to have many more stories most erased or forgotten to history. In time his anger at the world grew until one day he would realize his faulty and the corruption of the gods. In time because of this he began to pity his family. He begged and pleaded for them to see there errors, but still no god respected him. Only his uncle hades also scorned and cheated by the gods would see the true worth and nobility of Hephaestus in time the gods grew more cruel to mankind and he grew more compassionate to them. This was the tragic and beautiful trajectory of his life. Even now as his father stands beating him to death Hephaestus cries for him for his family for humanity for his son. He forgave the gods long ago for they're mistreatment of him for the hundred unspoken stories of the wrongs they've done him the stories he was too ashamed  to tell his son. Hephaestus lead a sad life however he would do it again for all the brief glimpses of happiness he experienced. He regrets not being around to see his son grow and enter the world but he knows the wisdom he imparted on him would make him into a fine man. He knows one day he will find love and happiness and for that dying here right now would be a faire price to pay. With one last breath Hephaestus speaks once more to Zeus “father I forgive all the gods cruelties to me I forgive Aphrodite and I forgive Aires I forgive you mother and even now as you take my last breath from me I forgive you father. I know in your heart you do not hate you simply feel this is the only way to maintain order I know it brings you no pleasure or relief to kill me which is why you sent the nymph Zeus looks shocked. I know you feel responsible for maintaining order and that you've refused to shed tears for me not out of lack of compassion. I can see in your eyes this pains you far more than me.” He pauses needing to take a breath due to his condition. “But even though I love you all I cannot condone your actions you have been abusive to the humans cruel even. You have ruined lives and dictated them you may be gods but you have no right to rule over them. You toy with their emotions and force them to submit. Which is why I could not stand idly by any longer. The sisters were right I did forge a new weapon but not to slay you to defeat you to free humanity from the plague of the gods. For it is no mere weapon, he will break their chains. Cast the gods from their thrones. He is blood of iron and body of steel he is forge born he is my son and the last hope of not just humanity but of the gods as well, because he won't just save humanity from the gods he will save you from yourselves. He will open your hearts to love. Father he is my last gift to you.” And with those last words the brimming glow emanating from Hephaestus fades as he lies unresponsive broken bloody not the death deserved of a man of piece. Off in the distance still fighting against the winds Vulcan senses one of the auras weakening growing more frantic he struggles greater even cursing the sea and winds until finally the aura disappears completely. Even without eyes he knows all too well what has occurred. He drops to his knees in tears giving up his struggle as he howls at the loss of his most precious person. Today he is all alone in the world. A freak a monster an outcast with no place to call home. He kneels there weeping allowing the winds to drag him further out to sea. Chapter 5 a new odyssey Out in the oceans alone sits a young Vulcan his eyes red and sunken. He lies there motionless and and unresponsive to the world he is dried out and his stomach growls. A near few feet from him stand his supplies within its content are food and water for a week but still it remains untouched. For days he wrestled with his grief he was angry at Zeus at the gods for allowing it and mostly at himself for being helpless. It has been five days now since his father's death had it not been for his inhuman attributes he would have succumbed to dehydration already. However the effects of it have begun to take hold his mind is hazy and he sees ghost which are not there. The Sun's light has reddened his skin and dried his lips so much they're cracked and bleeding. A little bird flies onto the edge of his ship. It stares at him for sometime analyzing him almost as though he held intelligence. Finally after some time while lost in thought he heard a voice “Vulcan.”  Vulcan looks around but sees nothing . “Vulcan” again he hears it he begins to believe it is perhaps the sea playing tricks on him. The bird now flutters to him landing on his knee. He stares at it and it opens its beak and and the words “Vulcan have you gone deaf.” He cant believe his ears or eyes he believes the effects of the ocean and dehydration are now at play. What bird can talk he thought. So he ignored it believing it to be in his head the bird continues to call him. The bird even begins to peck at him unfortunately for the bird however although Vulcan looks human his skin is actually like copper and bronze  in fact as a child he often wrestled with snakes and beast thinking them to be playing all the while they were attempting to eat him but their teeth could not pierce his flesh nor could they crush him. In time the bird gives up flying away Vulcan believes it to truly have been a vision until ploop a birds droppings fall on his head he immediately sticks his head in the water to clean the feces off him. When he returns to the ship he spots the bird on his deck. He bears his teeth as he scowls “why you little shit I'm gonna roast you and have bird for dinner.” “Serves you right for ignoring someone.” Okay now he knows he's not crazy this bird is really talking to him “so you're real.” “ As real as the shit in your head now listen close if you don’t want me to shit on your head again” Vulcan nods his head. “What are you doing boy?” “Why I'm doing Nothing.” “ Exactly. You lost your father not your life” “ You know about my father.” “I know a great many things boy.” “ Who are you.” “ That does not concern you, you're actions however do concern me. It has been five days since your father's passing and yet you sit here throwing away the life he sacrificed his for.” Vulcan hears those words as they echo into his heart. Tears once again well up. “No boy no more tears the time for tears are over now is the time for hope.” “What's there to be hopeful for I've lost everything. And I'm currently being hunted by the most powerful being in the universe at any moment he so chose he could summon lightning upon me to drown me in this ocean" “ If he can boy then why does he not do so. To play with you, perhaps the gods are very cruel. Or perhaps you're father was far smarter then you gave him credit for. On that device he gave you to guide you” Vulcan stares at the compass he's been clutching on one hand. “On that contraption is not only a guide but a ward one powerful enough to hide you from the gods. They can't kill you because they cannot find you.” “Very well bird you have erased one concern but what about my first what have I to live for now.” “ You have you to live for boy you can now see the world as you've always wanted you can gain justice for you're father.” “ Justice hah” Vulcan laughs hysterically “you mean me to kill Zeus God of Thunder. I truly despise Zeus as well as the other Olympians but I was never taught to seek vengeance doing so would only tarnish my father's legacy. And even if I desired the death of the gods what could I do against them for centuries man has been at they're mercy why because they are loyal and subservient no it is because they are weak and incapable of fighting the gods.” “ True they are but still many have tried..” “ and many have failed” he cut off the bird “failure is the first stop on the path to success.” At those words Vulcan resend so to his mind to a time he was a young boy at the forge he sat there with a crudely made helmet weeping. When along came Hephaestus he stood over him and asked why he cried Vulcan responded because he had failed it was nothing compared to Hephaestus work he wasn't gifted at the forge. Hephaestus stayed silent for a moment then walked away. After a few minutes he returned to the weeping boy and dropped something at his feet that made a clang sound as it hit the floor Vulcan stared at the object unsure of white it was it was a piece of metal with a strange shape and varying thickness Vulcan finally gave up and asked what is it. Hephaestus chuckled and said “it was meant to be a chalice for wine.” Vulcan is puzzled now that he was told he can make out a rough shape of a chalice the, but it is so badly deformed and tempered he can hardly accept it. “That Vulcan was my first ever forged item. Like you I wept only it was for three whole days I began to think about my failure about how much that cup and I shared in common how my parents believed me to be a failure and casted me out. When I thought of that I stopped my tears because I realized I wasn't a failure I didn't deserve to be tossed aside and I would prove that I would forge the greatest chalice ever. Time after time I tried again and again to make a chalice one after another they failed some worse than others, some ashamedly worst then the one that had come before it but with each I learned I grew and one day I had accomplished my task it came out perfect. Vulcan failure is merely the first step in the path to success.” With those words Vulcans tears fade and a smile crept across his face. Then almost mirroring the child Vulcan In the presents eyes were given new life the somber expression was replaced with a confident smile as he took to his feet and ran towards his supplies terrifying the bird nearly crushing it as it screamed hey watch it. He took large gulps of water and food nearly choking himself he lowered the sail and steered the Ritter towards the direction of north on the compass. He turned one time to face the direction of his island even though he could not see it and shouted he turned back and thanked the bird only it had disappeared. He laughed Unsure if hid had been real or not but it did not matter because it had given him what he needed now with life in his eyes he scans his map and compass and set sail for Geneva. And thus began a new odyssey.

Preview-  chapter 6  Geneva island of amazons

#fantasy #mythology #novel #fiction

[katrinawritesthings]

Junghee/Taeyeon; Fucktown Academy (Part 1/4): PG-13

so hey au where tae goes to a school for Troublemaker Kids (tm) and jung’s the new nanogirl that tae has to show around and it’s just jung never shutting up and tae barely ever talking and both of them being Real Gay

“If we go back here,” Taeyeon mumbles, sticking her hand through the gap between the fence and the gate to finegle the latch open. She shoulders the gate open and tugs Junghee through it and onto the little dirt path that winds away from the library and into the little ravine behind the school. “We’ll go behind the prep dorms and wind up at the observatory.” She points lazily into the distance where they can’t see the top of the building over the rocks.

“Are we allowed to be back here?” Junghee asks as she fits the latch back into place.

“No,” Taeyeon says, and tugs Junghee forward.

ao3

1-2-3-4

What Taeyeon loves the most about her butterfly knife is that the tip of the blade is the perfect shape and size for picking grunk out from under her fingernails. She lies on her bed, one leg bent at the knee and the other crossed over it, foot bobbing lazily in the air, as she works a little speck of dirt away from her pinky. The metallic mint green of it is a nice color too and she’s glad she spent the extra money for that. She rubs the dirt off of the blade with her thumb before wiggling it gently back under her pinky nail to pick out another.

Outside, the sun lowers orange and heavy through her window, warming her skin but thankfully not shining in her eyes. She got in trouble for moving her bed to just the right position to attain that feat, but no one ever actually made her move it back, so. She’s the winner here.

Her pinky nail is getting a little too long, she thinks, so after she finishes cleaning under it she turns her knife and uses it to cut it down to a better size. She flicks the clipped nail in the general direction of her garbage can and holds her pinky close to her face to inspect it better. Yeah. Looks g--

“Taeyeon.” A sharp knock on her door and a sharper voice make her look up. Her knife is flicked closed and slotted into her long sleeve before the dorm leader opens the door without waiting for permission and barges in like usual.

Unlike usual, she’s followed by another person, someone with dark brown eyes and a long brown ponytail and warm golden skin. They have on casual clothes, ripped skinny jeans and a grungy band tshirt, but over their shoulder is a bag and over their arm is a set of school clothes. Taeyeon looks them up and down quietly once before looking back to the authority figure in the room.

“This is Junghee,” she says, placing a hand on Junghee’s shoulder that looks entirely unwanted if the quick scowl Junghee sends her is any indicator. “She’s your new roommate. Be nice. Show her around. And--” she gives Taeyeon a hard, warning look--”Don’t scare this one away.” And then she’s gone, walking back outside and closing the door behind her. Taeyeon snorts at her back. She didn’t scare her old roommates away. They were just too neurotypical for her.

“Hi,” Junghee says, and Taeyeon looks back to her. She doesn’t look scared, or intimidated; just annoyed and grumpy to be here, an emotion that Taeyeon can relate to.

“Hey,” she says, and slips her knife back out of her sleeve. She flips it open to continue doing her nails, foot starting to bob in the air again automatically. “Just throw all my shit on your bed at the end of mine, I’ll clean it up later,” she says, gesturing with her knife to the pile of clothes she’d been throwing on the spare bed on the other side of her room since her last roommate moved out. “Welcome to Fucktown Academy,” she adds in a mumble, remembering the order to be nice. Junghee’s soft snort is barely audible.

“They allow switchblades in Fucktown Academy?” she asks. When Taeyeon glances at her she’s shrugging her bag off of her shoulder and onto her new bed. She looks back to her nails.

“It’s a gravity knife,” she says, “and no.” She shaves off a little extra nail from her pointer finger. “Why, you gonna tell on me?” she asks. She really doesn’t care if Junghee does or not. She has her usual hiding spots for when teachers come snooping in her business. A soft flump at her feet makes her glance up again at the pile of clothes that now sits there.

“I don’t know, are you in here for stabbing someone?” Junghee asks. She’s already turned back to fix her bedsheets out and pick up her pillow to inspect. Taeyeon watches her for another few seconds before focusing on her nails and snorting softly.

“This isn’t jail,” she says. No need to talk like it is. This time Junghee scoffs, yanks the zipper of her bag with a little more force than Taeyeon thinks is usual.

“No, it’s where rich parents send their rulebreaking kids when they’ve gotten into too much trouble and no other schools will take them anymore,” she mutters. “They can act like it’s some regular fancy private school but we all know. It’s like they think we don’t know how to research the shit they’re sending us to. It’s like they don’t care that we know that they’re just dumping us here so they don’t have to deal with us anymore.” Taeyeon hums shortly as she contemplates the length of her middle fingernail. She’s not too far off, honestly.

“You know how fucked up it is, to even have schools like this, by the way?” Junghee adds. Taeyeon hears her pulling stuff out of her bag and tossing it all onto her bed. “Like, just to pile a bunch of troubled kids together and act like fancy uniforms and a prestigious name and constant discipline for the tiniest infractions is the key to ‘fixing’ us instead of, oh, I don’t know, personal attention for each individual child and actually taking the time to understand the reasoning behind their behavior? Not to even fucking mention the disproportionate race populations--you know half these kids wouldn’t be here if they were white--or the higher ratio of neurodivergent and queer and, just, you know, oppressed kids? This whole place is fucked up, don’t get me started.”

Taeyeon hums again as she carefully carves little nicks in her nail to make it pointy like shark teeth. She thought Junghee already had started. So far her first impression of her new roommate is talkative.

“Like, the only reason this place isn’t full of poor kids too is because the school is more interested in taking in money than actually helping the students, and--”

“I’m not in here for stabbing anyone,” Taeyeon says blandly. She glances up to gauge how Junghee feels about being interrupted. She’s glancing back at Taeyeon, just a regular searching look instead of a pissed and offended one. Nice.

“I don’t care about your knife then,” Junghee tells her. She turns back to her bag to keep unpacking her stuff. Taeyeon looks back to her business as well. That’s also nice.

“So what are you in here for then, fellow delinquent?” she asks. Junghee snorts as she pulls out a whole ass pillow from her bag, pink and fluffy, and drops it on top of the school one.

“Forty-seven different reasons, give or take,” she says. “Do you want the long version or the short version?” She glances over her shoulder after she asks to look at Taeyeon like she’s waiting for an answer. Taemin feels like she’ll wind up getting a long story either way, so she shrugs and taps her spiky nail against her thumb to see how it feels.

“Long,” she shrugs. Why not. Junghee nods and moves to start organizing her desk in the corner of the room.

“So the first time I got suspended, I was seven,” she says, pulling out a Sailor Moon figure and placing casually it on the desk. “I don’t really remember all of the details, but. It was Friday, right , during arts and crafts time, and my fucko teacher was being a real shit and--okay, lemme explain him first, actually, it’ll make more sense.”

~

“And then again in second grade, in the third school, like, there was the most awful little goblin boy, his name was Andrew. And every day, every fucking day he would touch me, because I had to walk passed his desk to get to my desk, right. And I told him every time to get his ugly goblin hands off of me, but of course he didn’t listen, because of course his shitty parents didn’t teach him basic respect, and when I told the teacher she just said that he liked me, to which I replied, “alright then, I guess you won’t mind if I grab your ass every time you walk by me, right?” Which, on top of all the other shit--this was like a month in, remember, so I was already considered a mouthy little shit by the teachers at this school too--got me suspended. And you might be thinking, like, ‘Junghee, why did you threaten the teacher instead of threatening the boy?’ And to which I would say, that I did threaten the boy, when I got back from my suspension, because obviously my teacher wasn’t going to do shit. And then after me warning him for three days--which was honestly a really fucking impressive amount of time to restrain myself--I punched him in the mouth and broke two of his teeth. And of course they didn’t care that it was self-defense. So that’s how I got expelled a third time.”

Junghee has a really pretty profile.

Taeyeon sits with her head in her hand, her fingers stimming with the short hairs of her wavy blonde undercut, her elbow propped up on the desk, and just watches Junghee talk, mildly interested. Junghee is looking down at her literature work, scribbling her way through worksheets and vocab shit without breaking stride in her story. Her nose is soft and round, her lips thick and plush, her jaw sharp and square, her eyelashes long and delicate, her ponytail draped soft and long over her shoulder. There’s something about her face, maybe something in her makeup or her lotion, that makes her skin have the faintest glitter. As she speaks, sometimes, her mouth moves in just the right way that a particular little speck of glitter on her cheek twinkles at Taeyeon.

“Probably wouldn’t have been expelled if it wasn’t right after I got back from being suspended,” she’s saying, a contemplative little puff to her lips. “But, you know. Whatever.” She shrugs and flips her pencil around to erase something. “So then I was schoolless for a while, but not as long as the last time before my parents found me a new place. So, this is still second grade, and I didn’t get expelled again yet, but--”

She’s cut off by the bell ringing to end the class. Taeyeon glances at the clock as she stands up and pulls her bag over her shoulder. Neat. Junghee takes more time to get up because she has to shove all of her work into her bag first, but when she finally stands up, she looks expectantly at Taeyeon.

“Where now, boss?” she asks. Taeyeon snorts at the new title, but reaches to tug once on Junghee’s sleeve to get her to follow.

“Nowhere,” she says. “Lit class is last on Mondays. Now I go back to the dorm and chill.” She gestures blandly in the direction of the dorm rooms as they leave the classroom, then looks at Junghee out of the corner of her eye. “Unless you want a tour of the school,” she adds. That should probably be included in the whole “show her around” thing that she’s supposed to be doing. At the suggestion, though, Junghee scrunches her nose.

“That’ll be so much work,” she mumbles. “I’m tired. Give me a tour on the weekend or something.” She stops at a vending machine in the hallway to get a water bottle. Taeyeon takes it from her hand after she takes her first drink and has a sip for herself, then hits four of the buttons on the machine and kicks it on the left side, then collects the four quarters that tinkle into the change slot, and hands it all back. Junghee takes another drink and pockets the change without commenting on her hacking skills or the theft.

“Anyway,” she says after swallowing. “So second grade, fourth school. By now I’m realizing that all schools are the same bullshit. Kinda early I guess, but we already know I was a cynical little eight year old.”

“Mmhmm,” Taeyeon hums. She stuffs her hands into the pockets of her slacks as they leave the school building. Her fingers play with the half stick of chalk she snapped and stole from math class earlier. The teacher hasn’t said anything but she knows that he knows that someone is fucking with him.

Junghee keeps talking as they walk across the campus to the dorms, and then as they enter the dorms, and then when Taeyeon flops and melts into her bed. Junghee sits on her own bed and pulls out a notebook that Taeyeon didn’t see her using in any of their classes earlier. It looks like there's just short lines of words written, crossed out, and heavily edited; poetry or something. Taeyeon isn’t sure how Junghee plans to write some artsy shit while also telling her life story, but she doesn’t seem to find it difficult at all.

“And it’s like, yeah, I was right, but also, like, I didn’t start to grasp the concept of picking my battles until, like, sophomore year, so,” she says as she reads over what she has written down. Taeyeon closes her eyes and runs her spiky nail back and forth over the pad of her thumb in a very nice new stim as she listens.

And listens, and listens, and listens some more. Junghee can really go on for a while. Taeyeon is impressed; she can’t hold a conversation for more than half an hour without getting a sore throat. Half the time she can’t even talk.

When the sun starts going down she yawns and turns to her side to watch Junghee speak instead of keeping her eyes closed or staring at the ceiling like usual. She’s speaking through a bitten lip as she focuses on her work. Her left hand writes out words and her right plays with her long ponytail. She twists it through her fingers, brushes it slowly, plays with the ends. Taeyeon watches her hair shift and move against her hand in a daze. It looks really soft.

“So, I’m coming up on the end of second grade in this school relatively okay, but, like--”

“Can I play with your hair?” Taeyeon asks. Junghee pauses and looks up; after a few moments, Taeyeon flicks her gaze from her ponytail to her nose and back to pretend to make eye contact for a second. She’s found that that helps in asking for permission for things. After another moment, Junghee shrugs.

“Sure, but you come over here,” she says, pointing at Taeyeon and then to the bed. “I’m not moving.”

“Okay,” Taeyeon mumbles. She takes a deep breath, rolls herself off of the bed, catches herself before she falls all the way, and straightens up with a stretch and a yawn. Digging in her desk drawers first, she pushes aside her collection of color-organized paper hole punch holes and grabs her secret packet of cookies. Then she shuffles over to Junghee’s bed and gets on.

“They let you stash food in here?” Junghee asks, frowning at her cookies. “Sit behind me,” she adds, scooting forward a little.

“No,” Taeyeon says, and offers Junghee a cookie as she wiggles behind her, legs on either side of her hips. “Gonna tell on me?” she asks.

“No,” Junghee says around her cookie. She leans back against Taeyeon, nuzzles into her neck, breathes deep, and lets out a relaxed breath. “So, anyway, I make it to the end of the year fine, but everyone knows I’m loud and feisty or whatever, so everyone’s, like, pre wary of me going into third grade,” she says. Taeyeon thinks it’s rad how she can just pick up where she left off with no problem.

She picks up Junghee’s ponytail and tugs it gently from in front of her to more of the side, where she can run her fingers through its length and appreciate the softness. It’s a relaxing movement for her arm as well and she breathes easy, closing her eyes again and resting her cheek on the top of Junghee’s head. When she’s done with her snack she slips her other arm around Junghee’s waist to hold her close for comfort. This is so nice.

And it’s even nicer when, half an hour later, Junghee reaches behind herself during in her story of her fifth expulsion to tug her hair bobble off. She spreads her fingers to slide it down to bracelet her wrist and then goes back to her writing. Taeyeon at first pouts at the loss of the easy access, but once she threads her fingers all the way through Junghee’s hair a few times, she discovers a very familiar scratchy sensation.

“Oh my god, you have an undercut,” she breathes. Immediately her palm is against the back of Junghee’s head, fingers rubbing the short hairs gently and making her whole hand all tingly. This is incredibly nice. Junghee hums a small noise of agreement in the middle of her story and keeps going.

~

The bustle and chatter of the cafeteria hurts Taeyeon’s head, but she has a headphone in her right ear and she’s leaning the other side of her head against Junghee’s, so it’s not too overwhelming yet. She can handle it. And Junghee asked her to bring her to the school queers, so she brought Junghee to the school queers. The good ones anyway; the ones that haven’t been assholes to her.  Eunsook, Gwi, and Minjung, all in their usual little circle table in the corner of the room, accepted them into their little group easily. Now Junghee sits and munches her way through an ugly school lunch while she talks to her new friends.

Taeyeon already ate during their second class so she just chills, eyes closed, one hand stimming with her spiky nail and the other stimming with Junghee’s undercut. She thinks it’s very nice of Junghee to let her keep doing this near constantly over the passed three days.

The other three asked for the short version of how Junghee got here, which, like Taeyeon expected, is still pretty long. Lunch is almost over and she hasn’t even gotten from her first expulsion to where she was with Taeyeon somewhere in the middle of fourth grade. Taeyeon is only half listening to the review of the story because it helps her keep her mind off of the rest of the noise in the room.

“Did you ever think, like, maybe you should keep your mouth shut?” Minjung asks lazily. “So you wouldn’t get in trouble?”

“No,” Junghee says promptly. “Anyway, so then I told her that she shouldn’t be in charge of children if she didn’t know how to talk to them like they were human beings instead of, like, animals, and maybe she should go be a vet instead since she seemed more qualified for it, which as you can imagine didn’t go down too well with the literal principal, so.” When she shifts to get more comfortable on the bench her thigh rubs and presses against Taeyeon’s. Taeyeon blinks her eyes open sleepily to look down at where their sides are pressed together. Hmm. That’s warm and good.

“Please tell me the rest of the school found out you said that and--”

“Can I hold you in my lap?” Taeyeon asks, tapping the back of Junghee’s head lightly to get her attention.

“Don’t interrupt me,” Gwi snaps. Taeyeon glances up at their little frown, shrugs, and looks back to nudge Junghee’s head with her nose.

“You’re warm,” she murmurs.

“Sure,” Junghee says. She slips her bag off of her lap and moves to sit on top of Taeyeon’s thighs, wiggling to get comfortable as Taeyeon wraps her arms snug around her and fits her chin on her shoulder. Her weight is a heavy pressure that makes Taeyeon feel warm on the inside. Nice.

“I always knew you were a giant lesbian too,” Eunsook says fondly. Taeyeon snorts without looking up.

“Of course I’m a fucking lesbian, have you seen me?” she asks. She doesn’t know what kind of not lesbian would wear as much denim and plaid as she does, or go to the lengths to modify a school uniform to include so much denim and plaid. Plus all the other smaller shit she’s sure Eunsook just picked up on because she also knows the lesbian code.

“Oh, that reminds me,” Junghee says, snapping her fingers. She sounds like she has a broad smirk on her lips as she says, “One time I got expelled because I was talking about my gaydar and then when a cishet tried to straightsplain to me why gaydar is a bad thing I corrected her so thoroughly she ran to the teacher and told them the big mean lesbian--I’m pan--was harassing her.” She finds Taeyeon’s hand on her stomach and lifts it up to the back of her head; Taeyeon rubs her thumb over her undercut again immediately. She guesses Junghee likes it too, then. Rad. “But that was, like, two years ago,” Junghee adds. “Back to third grade.”

Without Junghee’s head to muffle the cafeteria noise, Taeyeon pulls out her other earbud and wiggles it into her left ear. From there, Junghee’s voice is just a quiet murmur and Taeyeon dozes off easily until she’s poked awake for their last class.

~

“And then here behind the--hup--library,” Taeyeon says, getting her hands on the cracked low wall and hoisting herself up. She drops back down in the dirt on the other side and turns to watch Junghee follow and hold her hand as she hops down. “If you hop that wall and follow that little path right, you’ll wind up hopping another wall and landing in the ugly little lawn gnome habitat the preps have set up by their dorms.” She scrunches her nose in distaste. Like it wasn’t ugly enough that they have a lawn for no reason, they had to populate it with expensive ass high quality gnomes instead of cheap funny ones. A double waste.

“Lawns are such classist trash,” Junghee says as she fixes the school hoodie that she borrowed from Taeyeon around her waist. She said she would give it back once she got around to buying one herself from the school shop, but Taeyeon doesn’t mind. Her entire wardrobe is just hoodies, binders, and jeans. It’s not like she doesn’t have a bunch to spare. And it was one of the hoodies she hadn’t gotten around to sewing weights into yet so she wasn’t going to wear it any time soon anyway. She hums in agreement of Junghee’s continued little grumbles about lawns and slips her arm around her shoulders to tug her forward and to the chain link fence that encloses this little area.

“If we go back here,” she mumbles, sticking her hand through the gap between the fence and the gate to finegle the latch open. She shoulders the gate open and tugs Junghee through it and onto the little dirt path that winds away from the library and into the little ravine behind the school. “We’ll go behind the prep dorms and wind up at the observatory.” She points lazily into the distance where they can’t see the top of the building over the rocks.

“Are we allowed to be back here?” Junghee asks as she fits the latch back into place.

“No,” Taeyeon says, and tugs Junghee forward.

“Thought so,” Junghee mutters, and follows. “This wasn’t what I meant when I asked for a tour, you know. You’re not in here for trespassing, are you?” she asks.

“No,” Taeyeon says again.

“Mm,” Junghee hums, and then, “Where was I?” she asks.

“Fifth grade, school one, suspension one,” Taeyeon says.

“Right,” Junghee says. “So, like, I didn’t get expelled, yet, but that was the first time I got suspended at this school, so I had the reputation and the warning, you know? Though this wasn’t like a bad reputation or anything, like, everyone knew it was just a technicality, and like, the rubber chicken thing was awesome, so. I’m good so far.” The sun peeps at them through thin layers of clouds, too covered up to be warm but not covered enough to stop shining into Taeyeon’s eyes if she looks the wrong way. Inconvenient.

She slips her hand up to rub Junghee’s undercut again. She couldn’t do this yesterday because yesterday Junghee decided to spend her Friday night doing whatever it is that the queers do on Friday nights. Taeyeon saw them chilling outside the music store when she biked over to the town to grab the week’s new comic book releases, so she guesses it was that. She’s glad they had a nice time.

This is a nice time too, just walking through the ravine with a cute nanogirl under her arm. Taeyeon should do this more often. Maybe when it gets warmer. For now, she yawns into the back of her hand and stares at their feet as they kick up little poofs of dirt.

“What’s through that tunnel there?”

“What’s what?” Taeyeon asks. She looks up, confused, at Junghee, who’s looking at her, also confused. Junghee points behind her.

“The t--”

“Oh, the tunnel, yeah,” Taeyeon says as her processing catches up. She knows what Junghee meant, yeah. The little walkway in the rocks behind her that’s only blocked off by an easily hoppable fence and a vandalized “keep out” sign. She glances at it as they pass. “It goes to a path from the train tracks to almost all the way around the school,” she says, pointing a vague circle in the air. “It ends at that dirt path by the parking lot. Also it branches off again to a secret little beach, but sand puts me into sensory hell, so.” They’re not going there. Junghee hums shortly at her answer. Taeyeon doesn’t know what that means but she also feels like she doesn’t really have to, so. Whatever.

“Oh, wait,” she says suddenly, stopping short. That reminds her. “Here,” she says. She pulls Junghee to a small tree and sits down with her back against it. “Here,” she says again, and fumbles in her bag for the snacks she brought. “Hungry.” She’s not actually hungry, she thinks, but she can never really tell what the fuck her tummy wants from her so she finds it’s easier to just eat something every few hours anyway. She pulls out a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and then holds out her bag.

“Oh, sure, thanks,” Junghee says. She sits cross legged across from Taeyeon and takes an apple and the bag of peanut butter cracker sandwiches. “Do the staff know about the secret beach?” she asks. Taeyeon pauses for a moment, thinking, and then shrugs. She’s sure some of the older staff do but she doesn’t know how much this year’s round of prefects and new teachers know. Junghee shrugs back at her and leans back on one hand to look around.

“This is so plant gay,” she mumbles. She reaches into her own bag and pulls out her notebook. Flipping it open to a green little tab, she finds a fresh page and starts writing. Taeyeon reads “plant gay and pb&j” upside down and nods. That’s gonna be a song about her all right. As she writes and eats, Junghee continues on with her life story. Taeyeon is again impressed with how well she can multitask. She can barely eat and pay attention at the same time, but she does her best because so far tiny fifth grade Junghee is turning out to be a real crackerjack.

#jongtae #jonghyun #taemin #girlee #junghee #taeyeon #fluff #fucktown academy au #pg #eunsook #minjung #gwiboon #the queers are v v important #they just chill queerly and judge all of the str8s and jungs like shit damn ur my new best friends #and theyre like yeah okay sure and show her around town #i couldnt decide which between '''kim junghees an sjw''' or '''everyone@jung: what are u some kinda fuckin sjw'''' is funnier #so u get both ur welcome #my intrusive thought the entire time was writing this: some kinda fuckin uwuwol #anygay its gay nd good and jung doesnt mind what tae wants to do with her as long as she gets to talk #and tae likes jungs voice bc its nice nd soothing nd she has interesting things to say #tae just likes chillin and being alone and being quiet and doing some mild tresspassing in her free time nbd #shes a good egg #so is jung but jung cant keep her heckin mouth shut or deescalate conflict at all but i still lov her #ydw #I FORGOT TO SAY MORE ABOUT THE QUEERS #sookie is everyones favorite hot trans butch lesbian #gwi is everyones favorite hot agender demi chasm #and minjung is everyones favorite hot pan #minjungs in there for Arson and gwis in there for skipping classes and ignoring the dress code #and sookies in there ''''bc i was just fucking Insufferable lmao all the teachers hated me but damn was i funny'''

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

AAS NOVA Rocks Go Wild: How to Make a Solar System By Astrobites Our solar system is really unique. As far as we can tell after our first ~decade of exoplanet hunting and planet formation observations and theory, it’s quite the special snowflake. In order to answer one of the biggest questions in astronomy — “How did the Earth form?” — we first need to ask how our solar system formed. Our moon, Jupiter and Saturn, the asteroid belt, and our Sun’s solar activity all provide hints as to how one can possibly form this incredibly habitable planet on which we live. Inspired by this, today’s bite answers the question: How did the terrestrial planets form? The authors argue that in order to fully understand the formation of one planet, we really should be thinking of its formation as one member of a system. Simulating the Formation of Our Terrestrial Planets The authors explore terrestrial planet formation through the medium of N-body simulations. They start with a number of embryos and planetesimals in a simulated solar environment. The embryos and planetesimals represent the large and small rocky bodies that are left over after gas dissipation of a protoplanetary disk, which is a remnant of stellar formation. We believe that our rocky/terrestrial planets are born out of collisions of these objects. The authors allow their simulated rocks to collide and interact with each other for a series of timesteps that equate to 400 million years. By that time, all of the planets will have formed and a stable system should be established. The authors create different initial distributions of the embryos and planetesimals that are inspired by different planet formation models, for example the Grand Tack model, Empty Asteroid Belt, and pebble accretion. They explore the mass ratios of embryos to planetesimals — i.e. which type of pre-solar body will carry the most mass. Is it mostly in the smaller pebble sized objects, or in the boulder sized objects? The authors also have different configurations of the gas giant planets, which we believe should have mostly formed by the time terrestrial planets started to form. Their location and eccentricities would affect the movements of bodies within 2 AU. The authors run 540 different combinations of these initial contentions and let the rocks go wild. In addition to the final mass and location of the planets that form, they also keep track of the water mass fraction, which is the fraction of mass that water makes up on each planet. Water is transported to these planets via collisions. We know generally the water mass fraction of Mars and Venus, we know the value pretty darn well for Earth, and we really have no idea for Mercury. Finally, the authors also keep track of the giant impacts that each planet experiences. We believe our Moon came from a giant impact that happened early in the Earth’s formation. So for a simulated solar system to be an analog of our system, the planets should have similar water mass fractions and the correct number and timing of giant impacts. Do You Have What It Takes to Be a Planet in the Solar System? Out of these 540 different solar systems, it’s time to find the systems that are most like our own solar system. There are a few criteria to narrow down the options. The authors define the region within 2 AU of the star (where 1 AU is the distance of the Earth to the Sun, today) as the planetary region, and outside of that is the asteroid belt. Are there at least three planets in the planetary region? Yes? Good. Moving on. Are there at least two that are of Venus/Earth mass? Yeah? Fantastic. Next, identify which planet-analog is Venus and which is Earth. We can now define the Mercury and Mars regions inside the orbit of Venus and outside the orbit of Earth, respectively. Are there planets in these regions that correspond to Mercury’s and Mars’s masses? Maybe there are multiple! If so, we determine which is going to be the planet analog by using its radial location from the Sun. The authors used the above checklist to begin to determine which planet systems were most like ours. In the end, they found only seventeen systems that were similar to our terrestrial planet system. So what does all this tell us about how our solar system formed? Right away, it’s clear that it is difficult to form Mercury. Only 38 total Mercury analogs were formed, and most of them were still over two times the mass of Mercury. The disk models that formed the most Mercury-analogs typically had an “inner region,” which meant there were embryos and planetesimals located very close to the Sun at the beginning of their model run. They also saw that Mercury always formed too close to Venus. The models did a pretty good job creating Venus and Earth — yay! However, they did not get enough water to Earth. In most of their simulations, Earth had a giant impact within 10 Myr, which is consistent with when we think the Moon was formed. Go Moon! Mars analogs typically formed with a larger mass than the real Mars, and often there were multiple Mars-like planets that formed nearby. The Ingredients to Make a Solar System After synthesizing their results, the authors came down to five crucial criteria that are necessary to form the terrestrial planets: 1. Disks need to start out with a concentration of total disk mass between ~0.7–1.2 AU — it helps form Venus and Earth. 2. Disks need an inner region ~0.3–0.4 AU in order to form my favorite planet: Mercury. 3. Beyond 1.2 AU up to the asteroid belt (~2 AU), there needs to be significantly less mass. This aids in the production of dwarf planets in the asteroid belt and helps achieve the correct mass ratio between Venus and Earth. 4. The embryos (large boulder-y rocks) need to carry most of the mass of the disk, as opposed to planetesimals. 5. Jupiter and Saturn need to be on eccentric orbits. This keeps the Mars-analog planet from getting too massive and chucks out any planets that meander over to the asteroid belt. This paper aids our understanding of terrestrial planet formation and tests how well current planet formation theories can recreate Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars analogs. Some aspects, like the excess water we have on Earth, the orbital spacing, and inclination of the planets are still a mystery, but the authors do take us one step closer to understanding the uniqueness of our solar system. TOP IMAGE....Artist's impression of the inner planets in our solar system: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars (click for the full view). [ESA/ATG medialab] CENTRE IMAGE....The embryo (large circle) and planetesimal (small circle) mass and radial distribution derived to represent three different planet formation models: A normal distribution (top), Empty Asteroid Belt Model (middle), and pebble accretion (bottom). [Adapted from Lykawka & Ito 2019] LOWER IMAGE....The 17 terrestrial systems that were deemed solar-system analogs. The simulation system 0 is our solar system. Green dots are Mercury, pink is Venus, blue is Earth, red is Mars, and black is the dwarf planet Ceres. The size of each dot corresponds to a mass, and the arrow represents inclination. [Lykawka & Ito 2019] Title: Constraining the Formation of the Four Terrestrial Planets in the Solar System Authors: Patryk Sofia Lykawka and Takashi Ito First Author’s Institution: School of Interdisciplinary Social and Human Sciences, Kindai University, Japan Status: Published in ApJ Editor’s note: Astrobites is a graduate-student-run organization that digests astrophysical literature for undergraduate students. As part of the partnership between the AAS and astrobites, we occasionally repost astrobites content here at AAS Nova. We hope you enjoy this post from astrobites; the original can be viewed at astrobites.org. About the author, Jenny Calahan: Hi! I am a second year graduate student at the University of Michigan. I study protoplanetary disk environments and astrochemistry, which set the stage for planet formation. Outside of astronomy, I love to sing (I’m a soprano I), I enjoy crafting, and I love to travel and explore new places. Check out my website: https://sites.google.com/umich.edu/jcalahan

#space #science #Astronomy #physics

[nyxabird]

Selling 5-6IV, Legitimately Hatched Pokemon

In order to have money to buy myself food (so I can eat more than one meal a day) and help pay the bills (so we don't lose our heating/our house/etc), I'm going to start hiring myself out to breed Pokemon for anyone who's interested! I love doing this, after all, so why not?

Here's the basic run-down:

I work in the newest generation, so you must have either Pokemon Sun or Pokemon Moon; the actual version you have doesn’t matter. I can’t do non-Alola forms, because hatching them in Alola turns them into that form.

I’ll breed any Pokemon that can be bred. As the Pokebank is cheap, I can keep a subscription up easily, so don’t worry about asking for past-gen Pokemon.

These Pokemon are 100% legitimate. I'm breeding them myself, and absolutely no hacking has gone into making them.

These Pokemon will be, at minimum, 5 IVs maxed: HP, Defense, Special Defense, Speed, and your choice of Attack or Special Attack. If I hatch a 6V Pokemon while going for your 5V one, it's no extra charge. It is possible to hatch 6V Pokemon; I’ve hatched multiple at this point.

In addition to the above, you can also take "add-ons" for specific details (such as nature and Pokeball). You can see the full list below.

There's no extra charge for those with baby forms, such as Riolu or Pichu.

Payment will be through Paypal. I don’t accept any other form of trade, sorry!

Payment will be given when I report that I’ve finished the Pokemon and I will not trade it to you until I’ve been paid. Payment will not be refunded once the Pokemon is in your hands, but if I’ve made a mistake I will fix it at no charge, don’t worry! This will happen even if you order in bulk, as I want to be paid for the work I’ve already done just in case you change your mind. If you’d rather me breed all your Pokemon at once and trade them at once, you have to pay in advance.

You absolutely can request pictures at any time. If you want to be sure I'm telling the truth, I will gladly take a picture of the Pokemon and show it to you before you commit. It's no trouble to me to do so!

6V Pokemon are not up for order at this time. I haven't had enough luck with getting them to appear regularly enough to offer. Shinies, however, are; see below.

If what I’m breeding for you comes out as Shiny and matches your order, it will be yours for no extra charge, just as there’s no extra charge for a 6V Pokemon. If it doesn’t match your order, I’ll still ask if you want it (either taking the place of your order or for an extra 5$). It’s only if you tell me you don’t want it that I’ll put it up for sale for others.

The Full Party package is the only discount I can offer. Again, I need this money for food and bills, so I can’t discount myself too far. I may be able to make an exception for very large orders (12+ Pokemon); contact me and we’ll work it out.

There is no guaranteed time of delivery because of the random nature of breeding. I could have all the Pokemon bred in a single day or it could take three days for me to be able to hatch what you're looking for, and this is without any add-ons at all! Add-ons, of course, will extend the time out. That being said, I will keep in contact with you and update you roughly once a week.

While parts of your order (such as moveset or gender) are not set in stone once the order is made, most of it is (Ability, Nature, Pokeball, Species). Changing the first two is simple and inflicts no penalty, but to change the rest I have to change what I’m breeding, sometimes completely. While I will accept the change, you’ll be bumped to the back of the queue; if you change the details that make me start over too much, then you’ll suffer the cancellation penalty.

The cancellation penalty is simple: if you cancel multiple orders in a short period of time, then you'll have to start paying for your order in advance, non-refundable. Simply put, if you’re suffering the penalty, you have to pay for every Pokemon you order because I’m already doing the work (regardless of whether or not you cancel). So if you pick a Pokemon, you have to pay for it in advance, and if you cancel that and want a different Pokemon, you have to pay for that Pokemon too and your first payment isn’t refunded. Generally, this will be three orders within a week (and each Pokemon counts individually as an order, even within the packages) and will go away the next week, but if you’re seen to regularly do this you may have the penalty on you permanently.

Pokemon are bred in the order the commissions were received (first come, first serve) but many not be finished that way, depending on what orders I have. If you want a Level 50, EV Trained, Hidden Ability Pokemon, but another order I have is of just a bred, no trained, no Hidden Ability Pokemon, their order will be finished before yours purely because even though I have bred your Pokemon before I bred theirs, your Pokemon is going through extra training, while theirs is finished once it hatches.

If you have any questions, please feel free to message me! I'll gladly answer any that I can and if it's significant enough, I'll edit the master post to reflect it.

The Pokemon currently up for sale can be found here. Pokemon will be removed as they’re sold. These Pokemon are either high/maxed IVs or Shiny, but didn’t fit my breeding needs or had a wrong trait for the order I was breeding.

Now that the information is out of the way, here's what you can order from me!

Basic Package -- 5$.

This is, of course, the general order. This package gets you the Pokemon of your choice, the gender of your choice, the Ability of your choice (excluding Hidden), the offensive specialization of your choice (Attack or Special Attack), and the name of your choice.

Battle-Ready Package -- 10$.

Everything in the basic package, but in addition, I will also EV train your Pokemon, level them up to 50, set up their movesets to your directions, and add the Egg Moves of your choice. Your Pokemon will come evolved, including Pokemon that evolve by holding items. NOTE: Hold Items that are very difficult to get, such as Prism Scales, may incur an extra fee.

Full Team Package -- 50$.

This is a very special package that can be used if you want a full team of Pokemon. It includes six Pokemon (Gender & non-HA Ability of your choice), EV training, leveled to 50 (and evolved), with whatever Egg Moves/moveset that you want. No items (including evolution items) come with this package, but Pokemon that evolve by stone exposure (such as Vulpix) will be evolved. You may still include other add-ons (such as Hidden Ability).

Payment will be 10$ (plus add-ons) after every Pokemon but the sixth, which comes free.

Shiny Package -- 25$.

This gets you a Shiny Pokemon! Shinies do not have guaranteed IVs or gender (thanks to the difficulty of them), but they can come with any other add-on that you please and I will do what I can to get them the best EVs I can. These, naturally, take a longer time than any other Pokemon.

In addition to the packages, there are also add-ons you can choose to further customize your Pokemon.

Pokeball Add-On -- 1$.

With this add-on, I will breed your Pokemon in the Pokeball of your choice, excluding all Apricorn balls (Level Ball, Lure Ball, Moon Ball, Friend Ball, Love Ball, Heavy Ball, Fast Ball) UNLESS you provide the Apricorn ball yourself.

EV-Training Add-On -- 2$.

With this add-on, not only will I breed your Pokemon for you, but I'll also EV-train them in the way that you want.

Level-Training Add-On -- 2$.

With this add-on, I'll train your Pokemon to level 50 before trading it to you (any EVs gained will be removed). The Pokemon will be evolved unless otherwise specified.

Training Add-On -- 3$.

This add-on is the EV-Training and Level-Training in a discounted package!

Nature Add-On -- 5$.

With this add-on, I'll also breed for a specific nature that you want for your Pokemon. This is higher-priced because of the difficulty of getting the nature correct and the vast number of natures.

Egg Move Add-On -- 1$ per move.

With this add-on, I'll breed Egg Moves onto your Pokemon (up their limit of 4 known moves).

High-Price Item Add-On -- 1$.

With this add-on, your Pokemon will be traded holding a high-price sellable item, such as a Big Pearl or Stardust.

Berry Add-On -- 1$.

With this add-on, I’ll have the Pokemon you order hold a berry of your choice.

Hidden Ability Add-On -- $2-5.

With this add-on, I'll breed the Pokemon's Hidden Ability onto it, assuming that its HA is currently available. Price will vary depending on the female ratio of the Pokemon. Pokemon with a high or guaranteed chance for female will only be 2$ (Vullaby, Vulpix), Pokemon with a low chance for females will be 4-5$ (Snorlax) depending on the ratio, and Pokemon that have no females will be 5$ (Tauros, Rufflet). This is because of the way Abilities are passed on: females have a higher chance of passing it than males, so having females to work with makes it take less work.

NOTE: If you provide a female Pokemon with its Hidden Ability yourself, there will be no extra cost. For those like Rufflet who don’t have females, providing the male will make it half cost.

Evolution Item Add-On -- 2-5$.

With this add-on, any Pokemon who evolves by holding an item will come with that item attached. This mostly applies to Pokemon such as Porygon, who evolve while holding a specific item, but Pokemon who evolve while leveled with an item (such as Weavile) also fall under this. The price is determined by how easily accessible the item is. Metal Coats, for instance, are easy to farm, so will cost 2$, while Prism Scales are far more difficult and will cost 5$.

NOTE: If you provide the item yourself, there will be no extra cost.

#pokemon for sale #pokemon #legitimate pokemon for sale #competitive pokemon for sale #pokemon breeding

[journalep-blog]

The Fundamental-ness of Gravity

One of the most common questions I ask myself in regards to the study of physics is, "which law is more fundamental?". In the case of gravity, I find this question to nearly always be on my mind. Skipping past some of the historical progressions on gravity, we land on the notion that the objects in our solar system following elliptical paths around our sun, with the sun being one of the foci. This is the observed pattern, but it provides no explanation as to "why" it happens. Kepler was the first guy to sort the how and not the why.

Through a now well understood line of reasoning, Newton concluded that essentially, if an apple falls when we drop it to the surface of the earth, does the moon also fall? The answer of course is yes, and the moon is "falling" to earth constantly, trapped in an elliptical orbit. This was one of the most significant discoveries in modern science and it can be most simply stated as the inverse square law. It simply means that two massive objects will attract each other with a force that is proportional to the inverse of the square of the distance between them. Yup it’s a mouthful. It's very easy to communicate with mathematics; slightly more difficult with words.

Another way of stating this law is that if two objects are say, a distance of X apart from each other, then if you move them to a distance of 2X apart, the force of attraction between them is only 25% of the first case (rather than 50%, which is more intuitive). The amazing simplicity of this statement (the inverse square law), is perfectly geometrically equivalent to objects travelling in ellipses. To be more precise, the objects travel along a surface ellipse traced out on an ellipsoid. Simple mathematics and geometry can be used to prove this.

However, one of the major issues of this law is that it is "non-local". If object A and object B have an attractive force between them, each object needs to know exactly how far it is from the other to determine this attractive force. Since force explains how objects move in time (how their velocity changes), the objects need to somehow "know" the location of another object at each instant in time to determine the magnitude of the force that is moving itself.

This is a very tricky concept. How can all the objects in space "know" where every other object is in space, relative to itself? This is called an action at a distance, and it is very troublesome when you start thinking about the rate at which information can travel. As a brief segue, it was known since about the middle of the 1700′s that light does not travel instantaneously (that it has a finite speed), and they even knew the value of its speed. Using a "schedule" for the motions of the planets based on Newton's laws, a consistent discrepancy was noticed that was outside the margin of error for such equations. For example, one of Jupiter's moons could be seen because of the shadow it cast while travelling in front of the surface of Jupiter. Depending on whether Jupiter was on the far side of the sun or the near sun in its orbit (relative to earth), this schedule of motion would either be ahead of time or behind time by a very predictable value.

The only logical conclusion here is that it takes light longer (when Jupiter's on the far side of the sun) for light to leave the surface of the sun, reflect off of Jupiter, have one of its moons cast a shadow, and then ultimately reach the surface of the earth where we observe it. As it turns out, applying the inverse square law in conjunction with this idea is very, very troublesome. An object would have to know about the positions of massive objects that are potentially light-years away, and supposedly have an instantaneous reaction to the forces exerted on it by those masses. If light traveled instantaneously, then this is not a problem. The instantaneous force on an object could always be known. But since we know that light has a finite speed, the problem becomes nearly impossible. And here we are going to make another segue into electricity.

One of the most interesting things in physics to study (in my opinion) is Gauss' Law. It's a law that is studied in the field of electrostatics and it is based on the field theory of electricity. The field theory is quite simple: for a positively charged object, field lines "leave" the surface of that object and point outward. For a negatively charged object, the field lines "come into" the surface of the object. The field strength is proportional to the inverse of the square of the distance between the source of the field and any point in space. Positively charged objects are coerced in the direction of field lines while negative charges move in the opposite direction. The rules are very simple.

In this way, the electric field is defined for all points in space, irrespective of what particles are actually out there. The field then becomes the object of interest as opposed to the two particles that are either attracting or repelling each other. Gauss' Law takes this observation one step further and says that if you perform a closed surface integral around an electric field source then the result is equivalent to the charge inside that enclosed space multiplied by a constant. It's quite simple to prove and even first year physics students would come across it in an introductory course on electrostatics.

Although the statement and the math are simple, the suggestion has now entirely changed the problem. The field itself is completely defined only by the shape of the enclosure and the charge held within (and a constant, I suppose, but it doesn't change with time). A further definition in this field theory is that you can easily obtain the force on any particle in the field by simply multiplying the particle's charge by the value of the field at that point.

All of a sudden the problem is localized; and what I mean by that is that we do not need to know the distance between any two particles anymore, just the value of the field at a singular point. The interesting observation is that this exact same line of reasoning can be used in the case of gravity, with one exception: in the case of gravity (for some unknown reason), there are only "negatively charged masses". This means that field lines always point in towards massive objects. The localization of this problem in fact allowed Einstein to generalize the theory of gravity with the notion that light has a finite speed. This part is fascinating all on its own, however, it is not primarily what I am concerned with here.

I am now thinking about the fact that there are two perfectly, equivalent ways (mathematically) to describe gravity. Both of them indeed produce the elliptical orbits of our celestial bodies that we may observe with telescope. However, the question now is which one is more fundamental? Is it the inverse square law? Or is it the field theory?

Both have implications that, in my opinion, are quite substantial. The inverse square law is certainly easily describable, and even now is the standard way to teach kinematics in high school (the variation with distance between the earth and any falling objects near its surface is so small that we can take the force on the object to be constant). A perfectly equivalent way of describing this is that the field varies by a very small amount for the distances which we are studying in kinematics, therefore the changes in the field can be neglected (constant field). Edit: After re-reading I realize I have this backwards. Essentially, F = ma, is the "field" version of gravity, using an acceleration "field", which is what they teach in high school.

Abandoning the inverse square law for a moment, a question comes to mind: what actually is a field? Luckily there are perfectly reasonable examples from reality that we can pull from. A field could be a literal field: if you imagine a grassy field that's got all sorts of humps and valleys in it, then we could write down the height of the field with respect to sea level (for instance) at each point in the plane. Then the value of the field would simply represent the height of the field above sea level at each point.

There is a seamless transition from using this example to all of a sudden talking about wave theory. Applying the same logic to water waves, we can easily see that we can represent the height of a water wave using a field. The wave height can be described with a field and we also notice that it may vary in time in a very predictable fashion, with certain boundary conditions. For instance, if you imagine a rectangular swimming pool, you'll notice that the waves (roughly speaking) have a closed boundary at the edges. The wave height won't be perfectly "zero" at the edges, but there will be some tendency for the water waves to reflect at the edges of the pool. This being the case, we can mathematically describe the water "field" using wave theory quite accurately.

The crests and troughs of the wave at every point (the value of the field) will sinusoidal-y vary with time. Due to water tension, each point on the wave will be linked to the next as well. This creates vary uniform motion with respect to both position and time. The reason that this example is so significant, is because light (which Maxwell determined in the 1800′s is an electromagnetic wave), is subject to these exact same rules.

If you allow an electromagnetic wave to enter a box that has perfectly reflective walls, then standing waves will form inside much like our water waves in the pool. The only caveat is that the electric field varies in all directions, as well as time. This is impossible to accurately visualize, because the field value is not simply the z-coordinate (spatially) of the wave. However, the fluctuation of the wave at each point can be measured, as described earlier, simply by taking the ratio of the force that a particle (an electron) experiences, divided by its charge.

There are many issues to this example, that are basically the exploration of quantum physics and the black-body problem, however, it illustrates the closely connected nature of field-theory and wave-theory.

Bringing back the story to gravity, we are now faced with somewhat of a philosophical problem: if it is indeed true that the field theory of gravity is more fundamental, then what relation does it have to wave theory? Recent experiments on gravitational waves are clearly indicating that the relation is very likely. In this sense we may view the wave front of the "gravitational field" in the exact same sense that we view the wave front of an electromagnetic wave. They both can only carry information at the speed of light.

With ever mounting evidence that the field theory of gravity is more fundamental than the inverse square law, what does this mean? How does this guide future gravitational physics? These are all questions I ask myself. Of course, I don't have any of the answers, but I think about them nonetheless.

#gravity physics relativity electromagnetism science philosophy

[junker-town]

How the first-place Minnesota Twins can stay there

The Twins have a share of first place. This is unexpected.

The original headline was going to read “I’m writing about the Twins to check them off my list and feel better when I’m not writing about them in August” It would have been a cheeky, disrespectful headline. But honest. If the Twins are within three games of first place at the end of August, I will write fan fiction about Joe Mauer’s twins being rivals with Buster Posey’s twins at summer basketball camp, only to realize they have lots in common, which helps them band together against a common enemy, Mr. McGarnle, the mean-spirited counselor from across the lake.

Which is to say, I probably won’t be writing about the Twins much in August. Or twins.

But what if, though? What if? The Twins have a share of first place right now, and it’s rude not to pay attention to them. As such, it’s helpful to look at how the Twins could stay in first place. Dream big, it’s May. We’re all friends, here, and there are no wrong answers. What would a first-place Twins team look like?

Something like this ...

Miguel Sano would be a young Miguel Cabrera

This one is happening. It’s not that Sano is crushing the ball, which he is. It’s not that he’s hitting for a high average, which he is. It’s that he’s terrifying the rest of the league so much that he’s walking every fifth plate appearance, while showing the discipline to crush whatever does float through the zone. He’s leveled up, and he’s just 24.

Not only is he raking, though, but the anecdotal and empirical evidence is suggesting that he might stick at third base after all. The success of the Twins’ season doesn’t have to measured by a postseason berth. If Sano can turn into the kind of franchise player the Twins can plop down at third base for the next decade, it will be one of their best seasons out of the last five, regardless of how many they win.

Byron Buxton would be a young Kevin Pillar

That’s not an idle comparison. The only difference is that when Pillar was 24, he hit .206 with a million strikeouts, and no one was breathlessly complaining about him being a flop, which is what people like to do with the 23-year-old Buxton. Yes, it’s been a rough start to the season, but let me just put on my cherry-picking gloves and ...

... oh, heck yeah, .296/.441/.481 in his last nine games, with a 1:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Looks like he’s leveled up, too ...

Sure, that’s optimism that’s based in sample-size dust, and it’s probably a little premature, maybe by a year or two or three, and it’s possible that he’ll eventually befriend Joe Borchard on the Island of Misfit Tools. But if the Twins are still in the hunt after the trade deadline, it’s probably because Buxton is hitting just enough to let him transcend the glove-only label. He had a 91 OPS+ last year, so he’s almost there already.

He’ll still strike out more than a third of the time, but there’s a way for Buxton to be better than last year, when he was still valuable. If the Twins want to stick around, they’ll need him.

Someone, anyone, will have to pitch better behind Ervin Santana and Hector Santiago

You don’t need 500 words on why Ervin Santana won’t finish 25-0 with a 0.66 ERA. You know there’s regression coming and that it won’t bring orange slices and Capri Suns. At the same time, it’s probably time to admit that Santana is really good at his job and has been for years. I laughed at the contract, which means he gets to laugh at me now.

Behind Santana is Hector Santiago, who was acquired when the Angels asked themselves, “Is there any way to turn this starting pitcher into someone less reliable, older and more expensive?”, which is a classic thought exercise throughout baseball history. He’s been fine this year, just like he’s been for most of his career.

In reality, both pitchers should be traded at the deadline, with Santana bringing back some sweet prospects. But if the Twins are contending in July, these two pitchers will be continuing their strong start.

They’ll need help. Because every other pitcher behind them has been dreadful. Phil Hughes hasn’t been good for over two years now, and Kyle Gibson is looking as lost as he was last season. Adalberto Mejia, the rookie acquired for Eduardo Nuñez, scuffled early and was optioned back to Triple-A.

So if not those pitchers, who? Jose Berrios is dominating Triple-A, and it’s something of a stunner that he’s not up already. That’s one.

Tyler Duffey is thriving in a relief role, and the Twins might not want to mess with him. Nick Turley was such a good prospect that I didn’t even realize he was in the Giants’ organization in 2015, but he’s doing something weird in Double-A, with 36 strikeouts in 20⅓ innings, so he might have been bitten by Rich Hill under a full moon. Or maybe Mejia figures it out and contributes when he comes back up.

The particular names don’t matter. But if the Twins are going to contend, they’ll need Santana and Santiago to keep on keepin’ on, and they’ll need at least two more reasonable pitchers behind them. Berrios looks like he could be one of them. Finding the other complements in the rotation hasn’t been the Twins’ specialty over the last couple years. No time like the present.

Et cetera

In which the players you’re less familiar with become players you’re more familiar with. Max Kepler wasn’t one of the 1,521 players drafted in 2009, but he came out of nowhere to become a top-100 prospect before the 2016 season, and then he held his head above water in the majors. He’s looking like a modern-day David DeJesus right now, and Only 2000s Kids Will Understand How Exciting That Is. If he keeps it up, and a dozen other things go right, the Twins have a shot.

Robbie Grossman is doing what he did last year, and he’s doing it just a little more convincingly, with more walks than strikeouts.

Eduardo Escobar is floating around, taking over the Nuñez role and doing even better than he did in 2014 and 2015. He’ll need to keep doing that.

I’m not as worried about Brian Dozier, who will at the very least be quietly excellent. At the very most, he’ll be obnoxiously excellent.

Hrm, it seems as if the bullpen is currently scary as all hell, but we’re out of time! And the more and more I look at the Twins, the more I think about Santana and Santiago being quality pitchers with one of the best pitching prospects in baseball behind them, with Sano breaking out and Kepler continuing to progress, with Buxton still having the world’s greatest building blocks for continued baseball success, with players like Dozier, who can be a star, and players Grossman and Escobar, who have each contributed something over the last couple seasons.

We don’t even have to engage in fanboy speculation, like my secret hopes that Mauer will undergo a zimmermanectomy during the season and become an MVP candidate a gain.

So while I won’t start the summer camp YA novel yet, I’ll at least jot down some notes. I think Mr. McGarnle should be a very tall, slender man, don’t you? I originally envisioned him as a short, squat fellow with more hair on his face than the top of his head, but ...

[type2diabetestreatments-blog]

Ask D'Mine: Basal "Gaps and Stacks," Body Size and Insulin Resistance?

New Post has been published on http://type2diabetestreatment.net/diabetes-mellitus/ask-dmine-basal-gaps-and-stacks-body-size-and-insulin-resistance/

Ask D'Mine: Basal "Gaps and Stacks," Body Size and Insulin Resistance?

Using insulin is an art, not a science. Whether it's finding the right time to inject or finding the right dose to take, our Ask D'Mine host Wil Dubois, veteran type 1, diabetes author and community educator, explores just how individualized the options can get...

Need help navigating life with diabetes? Email us at [email protected]

Amber from Oregon, type 1, writes: I've had type 1 diabetes for almost two years and recently started a new job. Once the training period is over my shift will be 8:45 pm-7:15 am four days a week. I've worked nights before, but that was before diabetes. My question is: how will this affect my diabetes, and what can I do to keep my blood sugar under control? I plan on checking my blood sugar frequently to see if I need to adjust my insulin doses (I use Lantus and Novolog). Is there anything else I should do? Any tips would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Wil@Ask D'Mine answers: I don't envy your new working hours. Uck. But how living like a vampire will affect your diabetes depends in large part on how well your therapy matches your diabetes in the first place. In theory, if your Lantus dose is right, you could be shipwrecked on a deserted island and have perfect blood sugar control until you starved to death talking to a volleyball. The job of basal is to keep your blood sugar in good range while sleeping, and between meals when awake. It shouldn't really matter when you sleep and when you eat. Theoretically.

But unfortunately, diabetes theory almost always breaks down in the face of the real world. So you're smart to plan extra testing while you adjust to your new nocturnal life.

I think the biggest factor that will impact your blood sugar is what hours you will keep the three days per week you're not working. Are you planning to live your whole life at night? Or are you going to try and have "normal" hours on your days off? Shifting back and forth will be wicked for your body, and thus for your blood sugar control, but your options may be limited depending on the working hours of the other humans you share your life with.

FYI to readers: I touched base with Amber, and right now she shoots her Lantus at bedtime, which for her has previously been 10 p.m. That's about an hour and a quarter after she'll get to work on her new schedule. She could still take her Lantus at work, but it's a hassle and not really necessary. As Lantus is essentially a time-release insulin, with a good 24-hour duration of action in most folks. It really doesn't matter much when you take it. Morning, noon, or night. But you really need to take it at pretty much the same time every day or you risk Gaps and Stacks.

Gaps happen when a basal shot is late to the party. The previous shot can run out of steam before the next one arrives at the station, causing high blood sugar. (OK, OK, I'll quit mixing metaphors while changing hats on my horse in the middle of the stream).

Stacks happen when a basal shot is taken while the previous shot is still on the job, causing low blood sugar.

Amber: as your schedule is changing and likely to be erratic, you need to pick a time of day when you can take your shot everyday: workday or restday. Once you pick your time, I'd suggest you set a cell phone alarm to remind you daily for a while until you get into the new habit. I'm told it takes 30 days to make or break a habit.

The only other thing worth mentioning is that insulin to carb ratios tend to be different for most type 1s at different times of the day. Whether those patterns are pegged to the rising and setting of the sun and moon, or to the tides of the hormones inside your own body from waking and sleeping patterns is anyone's guess. For some people, their IC ratio goes up as their Lantus wears off. So I suspect you might get some unexpected results at first. Let trial and error be your guide on this one. Play close attention to your postprandial numbers while you discover the effects of your nocturnal Novolog on your moonlight banquets.

Note: Beth also shares her brand-spanking-new medic alert tattoo with us, telling D'Mine: "I chose my left wrist because I am left-handed and that is where I usually wore my bracelet when I remembered it."

Beth from Indiana, type 1, writes: I am severely insulin resistant and my doctor has tried everything under the sun with not a lot of success. I am on a diet and I exercise regularly. I only weigh 103 pounds and wear a size 1. For being almost 5 foot 6, I cannot afford to lose any more weight. I take 20 units of Lantus two times a day and I am on a pump with Humalog, but still I am almost always in the 200s. My last A1C was a little high at a 9 but for me that is pretty good. I have always been at or around a 12 since I was diagnosed at age seventeen. I am now almost 29. I just really want to know what else I could do to get my blood sugar lower. I work full time and have 3 children that keep me on the go at all times and I just want to get healthy so I can be here for them for a very long time. Thanks for your advice in advance.

Note: Beth also shares her brand-spanking-new medic alert tattoo with us, telling D'Mine "I chose my left wrist because I am left-handed and that is where I usually wore my bracelet when I remembered it."

Wil@Ask D'Mine answers: Yes, readers. You read that right. Beth uses both an insulin pump and takes basal shots; I wrote her back to make sure! That's a slightly wild approach, but it can work. She also shared with me her almost type-2 like insulin to carb ratios, which are pretty amazing given she's literally one hundred pounds soaking wet. But that's what makes diabetes so interesting, we're all different and the condition is full of surprises.

Insulin resistance is usually tied to weight gain. The more you weigh, the higher your insulin resistance. Bigger people tend to need more insulin and smaller people tend to use less insulin, and Beth is living proof of the need to use words like "usually" frequently in the world of medicine. Your mileage may vary, and Beth, your mileage really, really, really varies!

I don't know what is causing your insulin resistance, but it sure as hell isn't your weight. Given how thin and light you are, even if it were healthy for you to lose more weight (it isn't), I don't think it would help. Your BMI is only 16.6, making you seriously underweight as it is. Why is a tiny little thing like you so resistant to insulin? Beats the crap out of me. It might be that you have a predominance of small particle LDL cholesterol to match your small waistline; that's been linked to insulin resistance. The small particle LDL that is, not the small waistline. But I don't think the cause matters, it's just an underlying fact. I think we should focus on treatment.

So Beth is practically drinking insulin and it really isn't having much luck keeping her sugar down.

Here's the deal: unlike almost any other medications in the world, there's no maximum dose of insulin. It isn't possible to overdose solely based on the number of units taken. You take what you need to take to get the job done. Naturally, if you take more than you need to get the job done, you'll suffer a low blood sugar.

Forty units of Lantus may sound like a lot for a hundred pounds of girl, but clearly, it isn't getting the job done if you're always in the 200s. My prescription (reminder: I'm not actually allowed to write prescriptions, I'm being metaphorical again) is more insulin. Why not 60 units? Or 80 units? Or 100 units?

The sky's the limit when it comes to insulin. Until you reach 250 units. Then we break out the secret weapon: U-500. No, it's not an undersea German secret weapon. I'm talking about U-500 insulin. Now, if you look at a bottle of insulin you're using, you'll notice that somewhere on it will be a cryptic legend: U-100.

That's the strength. It tells you how many active units of insulin there is in a milliliter (mL) of diluent fluid. Your garden-variety vial of insulin is 10 mL. 10x100=1,000. That's why a vial has a thousand units in it. But who says insulin has to be mixed at a strength of 100 units per mL? Actually, prior to the early 1970s in the States, we had U-20, U-40, and U-80 insulins. It was a whole wolf pack of insulin. Which of course, lead to all kinds of dosing errors when people got the wrong syringes or wrong insulin at the drug store. That's why we only have U-100 now. Well, except we don't. We also have U-500, which most PWDs have never heard of.

U-500 is super-sized insulin, kept on the market for the unusually insulin resistant. It's five times more concentrated than U-100. If you needed, say, 400 units of U-100 (and some people do), you'd only need 80 units of U-500. This keeps the volume down, which is important, as there's only so much insulin your tissues can absorb in one shot. Literally.

Your pump is not designed for U-500 but anyone who can divide by five can figure out how to reprogram a pump to deliver U-500.

Excuse me while I evade the FDA hit team.

Now, I'm not really sure you really need U-500, but it's something you could talk to your doc about. Or maybe it's time to see a specialist. One thing's for sure: you do need more insulin. Whether from pump or from shot. Whether from U-100 or new U-500. Anyone who's using insulin and is still having high blood sugar isn't using enough. It's as simple as that.

Oh, and as an afterthought, I should also mention that any time insulin doesn't seem to be working the way one would expect, it's always possible you aren't injecting it "right." You should review your injection technique with your doc. Also make sure that you haven't gotten into the habit of injecting into a favorite place—that can lead to scar tissue, and scar tissue doesn't absorb insulin very well at all, causing it to perform poorly..

Oh, and Beth... Can I introduce you to all those people who believe that taking insulin makes you fat?

This is not a medical advice column. We are PWDs freely and openly sharing the wisdom of our collected experiences — our been-there-done-that knowledge from the trenches. But we are not MDs, RNs, NPs, PAs, CDEs, or partridges in pear trees. Bottom line: we are only a small part of your total prescription. You still need the professional advice, treatment, and care of a licensed medical professional.

Disclaimer: Content created by the Diabetes Mine team. For more details click here.

Disclaimer

This content is created for Diabetes Mine, a consumer health blog focused on the diabetes community. The content is not medically reviewed and doesn't adhere to Healthline's editorial guidelines. For more information about Healthline's partnership with Diabetes Mine, please click here.

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